やまなし
Two magic-lantern slides of crab children at the bottom of a stream.
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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
"Yamanashi" is a short fairy tale by Kenji Miyazawa, published in the Iwate Mainichi Shimbun on April 8, 1923, and one of the few works he saw published in his lifetime. It opens with two little crab brothers watching scenes from the bottom of a stream: two blue magic-lantern slides showing May and December. An earlier draft survives that differs from the published version, and it is collected in volume 10 of the New Critical Edition of Miyazawa Kenji's Complete Works as "Yamanashi [Early Version]."
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 word invented by Miyazawa Kenji; nowhere in the piece is it explained. The crabs repeatedly say it "laughed" or "died," so readers can only guess it is some small creature in the water. This undefined coinage creates the feel of a child's point of view; it is usually transliterated in translation.
A magic lantern, i.e. a projection device that casts pictures on glass plates onto a screen in a dark room. The opening states that this piece consists of "two blue magic-lantern slides," likening the work to two projected images, matching the structure of the two sections of the whole piece.
ラムネ is a carbonated drink introduced to Japan in the Meiji era, sold in transparent glass bottles sealed with a marble. Kenji uses this everyday object, familiar to children of the time, as a metaphor: moonlight shines through the clear, bottle-like water to the bottom, and sparkling light scatters like the bubbles in the bottle.
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: やまなし (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.
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What level is it?
This one is marked “Beginner”. 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.
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