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最後の一句

The Last Phrase

by Mori Ōgai

A sixteen-year-old girl asks to die in her father’s place.

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Original language: JapaneseLevel: Intermediate3,527 characters · ≈ 14 minSource: 青空文库

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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.

元文三年the third year of Genbun (era name)十一月the eleventh month二十三日the twenty-third dayのof / 's (linking particle)事matter / eventであるit is / it was (copula)
It was the twenty-third day of the eleventh month of the third year of Genbun.
大阪でin Osaka船乗り業桂屋太郎兵衛Tarobei Katsuraya, a boatman by tradeというものをa person called (such a one), object marker木津川口でat the mouth of the Kizu River三日間for three daysさらしたexposed (him) publicly上after doing so; in addition斬罪に処するto be sentenced to beheadingとthat (quotation particle)高札にon the official notice board書いてhaving written立てられたwas erected/posted
In Osaka, a boatman named Tarobei Katsuraya was put on public display for three days at the mouth of the Kizu River, and then a notice board was posted saying that he would be beheaded.
市中至る所everywhere in the city太郎兵衛のうわさrumors about Tarobeiばかりしているwere doing nothing but (spreading)中にamid / whileそれをit最も痛切にmost keenly感ぜなくてはならぬmust feel太郎兵衛の家族はTarobei's family南組堀江橋際の家でin a house at the edge of Horie Bridge in the South Groupもう丸二年ほどfor almost two full years nowほとんど全くalmost completely世間との交通をcontact with the world絶ってcut off暮らしているのであるhad been living
While rumors about Tarobei were everywhere in the city, his family, who must have felt it most deeply, lived in a house at the edge of Horie Bridge in the South Group, and for almost two full years they had lived almost completely cut off from the world.
このthis予期すべきto be expected出来事をevent (object marker)桂屋へto the Katsuraya house知らせに来たのはthe one who came to inform wasほど遠からぬnot far off平野町に住んでいるliving in Hirano-machi太郎兵衛がTarobei's女房の母であったwas (his) wife's mother
The one who came to the Katsuraya house to tell them of this expected event was Tarobei's wife's mother, who lived in nearby Hirano-machi.

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About the book

The Last Phrase (Saigo no Ikku) is a novel by Mori Ōgai, published in Chūō Kōron in October 1915. The opening tells of a sixteen-year-old daughter, O-Ichi, who goes to plead for her father after he is sentenced to death. As a work by the renowned Japanese author Mori Ōgai, it is worth reading.

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.

木津川口で三日間さらした上、斬罪に処する Customs

Shirei (sarashi) was a public-exposure punishment attached to capital sentences: the condemned was bound and put on display in a crowded place such as a riverbank in a busy district, and then executed, as a warning to others. Kizu-gawa mouth was a key point on the Yodo River water transport network in Osaka, densely populated and thus well suited to public exposure.

南組堀江橋際 Customs

Horie is a place name along the Kizu River in Osaka. In the Edo period it belonged to the "Southern Group" (Minami-gumi) of the three districts of Osaka (Ōsaka Sangō).

高札 History

Notice boards erected by the authorities in the Edo period at places with heavy foot traffic, announcing laws, criminal verdicts, and the like. Here the posting of a takusatsu means that Tarōbei's sentence had been formally made public.

About the author

Mori Ōgai (February 17, 1862 – July 8, 1922), born Mori Rintarō, was a Japanese Army Surgeon general officer, translator, novelist and poet, and father of the writer Mari Mori. He obtained his medical license at a young age, introduced translated German literary works to Japanese readers, and is considered a leading figure who modernized Japanese literature; his major work is The Wild Geese (1911–1913).

Summary prepared with AI from Wikipedia: 最後の一句 (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

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Yes. The library holds the opening section of the public-domain original, taken from 青空文库.

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