鐘ヶ淵
by Kidō Okamoto
A tale of an old temple bell said to lie at the bottom of a river.
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Sample: three-line reading
Each word has its meaning in this sentence underneath, and each sentence has a full translation. Read the original and glance down only when you need to.
About the book
The text is told in the first person, relaying a story from his friend Ohara's family record about an event involving an ancestor who served the eighth shogun Yoshimune during an outing to the Sumida River. The pace is unhurried, with digressions into genealogy and historical details, giving it the feel of listening to someone patiently recount an old, documented tale.
Cultural notes (selection)
Background a translation can’t carry: social roles, history and allusions. While reading, tap “Note” at the end of a sentence to see them all.
A low-ranking samurai post in the Edo shogunate. Foot soldiers (kachi) were samurai who served the shogun on foot, as opposed to samurai who travelled on horseback. Members of the otachi-gumi served as guards on foot and performed miscellaneous duties when the shogun travelled, and were mostly filled by men of low rank.
The makuwa-uri melon takes its name from Makua village in Mino Province (present-day Motosu City, Gifu Prefecture), where it originated. It resembles a muskmelon, with white or pale green flesh, and was widely cultivated in the Edo period as a common variety of sweet melon at the time.
Refers to the Umewaka Mound at Mokubo-ji temple, connected to the story of the nō play Sumidagawa: according to legend, the boy Umewaka-maru was lured away and killed on the banks of the Sumida River, and his mother came searching for him to this spot.
About the author
Kidō Okamoto (October 15, 1872 – March 1, 1939) was a Japanese author and playwright whose real name was Keiji Okamoto; he was born in the Shiba Takanawa district of Minato Ward, Tokyo. His best known work is the shin kabuki play Bancho Sarayashiki.
How the glosses are made
Word glosses and sentence translations are generated in context by AI models (DeepSeek and Zhipu GLM), and every word is checked to have a gloss. AI can make mistakes; you can report problems from the book page.
FAQ
Is this the original text?
Yes. The library holds the opening section of the public-domain original, taken from 青空文库.
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Library books are free to read without an account. Other gloss languages and importing your own texts need an account and credits.
What level is it?
This one is marked “Intermediate”. Every word is glossed, so you can keep reading even with a small vocabulary.
Can I use another gloss language?
English and Chinese glosses are prepared in advance; signed-in readers can generate other languages.