LightNovelLingo
Home / Library / Japanese / 烏の北斗七星

烏の北斗七星

by Kenji Miyazawa

A crow captain prays to the Big Dipper on the night before battle.

Read this book free →

Original language: JapaneseLevel: Intermediate3,539 characters · ≈ 14 minSource: 青空文库

Want to read your own Japanese light novels? Read the guide →

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.

つめたいいじの悪いcold and mean-spirited雲がclouds (subject)地べたにclose to the groundすれすれにjust barely, almost touching垂れましたhung downのでso, because野はらはthe field雪のあかりだかwhether it was snow light日のあかりだかor sun light判らないcould not tellようになりましたbecame (so that)
Cold, mean clouds hung low, close to the ground, so the field became unclear: was it snow light or sun light?
烏の義勇艦隊はthe crow volunteer fleetその雲にby those clouds圧しつけられてbeing pressed downしかたなくhaving no choice but toちょっとの間for a short while亜鉛の板をsheets of zincひろげたようなlike spread-out雪の田圃のうえにon the snowy field横にならんでlying side by side仮泊ということをa temporary stopやりましたdid
The crow volunteer fleet, pressed down by the clouds, had no choice but to lie side by side for a short while on the snowy field, which looked like spread zinc boards, and make a temporary stop.
どの艦もnot a single ship / no shipすこしもat all (not even a little)動きませんdid not move
Not a single ship moved at all.
まっ黒くpitch-black (adverbial form)なめらかなsmooth (attributive form)烏の大尉the crow captain若いyoung艦隊長もthe fleet leader tooしゃんとfirmly; upright立ったままhaving stood (still)うごきませんdid not move
The pitch-black, smooth crow captain, the young fleet leader, also stood still and did not move.

Read free →

About the book

"The Crows' Big Dipper" (Karasu no Hokutoshichisei) is a fairy tale by Kenji Miyazawa, included in his collection "The Restaurant of Many Orders." Taking inspiration from a flock of crows, the story likens each bird to a warship and a soldier, depicting a war between crows and the men and women caught up in it. It opens on the night before a campaign, as a captain of the crow army prays to the Big Dipper.

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.

義勇艦隊 History

Here the flock of crows is written as a "volunteer fleet"; the ranks mentioned below—captain (大尉), ship's captain, and chief petty officer—are all naval ranks.

ニダナトラの戦役 Allusion

The name of a fictitious battle. In the original it is written in katakana, imitating the transliterated place names used in newspaper reports of foreign wars at the time.

兵曹長 Social role

A rank for non-commissioned officers in the Japanese navy, between ordinary sailors and commissioned officers. In this story, the world of the crows borrows the organisation and rank system of the modern navy (captain, ship's captain, sailors, roll call, etc.).

About the author

Kenji Miyazawa (27 August 1896 – 21 September 1933) was a Japanese novelist, poet, and children's literature writer from Hanamaki, Iwate, who also worked as an agricultural science teacher. His major works include Night on the Galactic Railroad, Kaze no Matasaburō, Gauche the Cellist, and The Night of Taneyamagahara, and his work gained its reputation mostly after his death.

Summary prepared with AI from Wikipedia: 烏の北斗七星 (CC BY-SA)

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.

Do I need to pay or sign up?

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.

More by this author

Read this book free →