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鬼退治

by Chiaki Shimomura

A strongman sets out to defeat the ogre of Mount Yamizo.

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Original language: JapaneseLevel: Beginner3,500 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.

一one
One
頭はas for one's head (brains)少々馬鹿でもeven if a little foolish腕っぷしさえ強ければas long as one's physical strength is strong人の頭に立ってto stand above othersいばっていられるto be able to act big / throw one's weight aroundようなsuch (a)昔の時代old eraであったwas
It was an old time when a person could stand above others and act big as long as he was strong, even if he was a little foolish.
常陸のof Hitachi (province)八溝山というcalled Mt. Yami高い山の麓の村にin a village at the foot of a high mountain勘太郎というnamed Kantaro男がいたthere was a man
In a village at the foot of a high mountain called Mt. Yami in Hitachi, there was a man named Kantaro.
今年this year十八歳であったwas eighteen years oldがbut頭がhis head (mind) was非常にveryよくってgood, and寺子屋でat the temple school教わるtaught読み書きそろばんreading, writing, and abacusはas forいつもalways一番であったwas first
This year he was eighteen, but he had a very good head, and in reading, writing, and abacus taught at the temple school, he was always first.

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About the book

This passage is set in an era when physical strength mattered more than wits, and follows Kantaro, a clever but weak villager near Mount Yamizo in Hitachi, as an abandoned temple nearby sees one priest after another vanish or die—until a survivor returns claiming demons with split mouths dwell there. It reads like the opening of a folk tale, unhurried in tone but steadily building a sense of dread as the demon threat emerges.

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.

寺子屋 History

A privately run elementary school of the Edo period, teaching children practical subjects such as reading, writing, and the abacus. After the Education System Order was issued in 1872 (Meiji 5), these schools were gradually replaced by elementary schools.

十丁 Customs

「丁」, the same as 「町」, is a traditional Japanese unit of length; one chō is about 109 metres, so ten chō is a little over a kilometre. Here it gives a specific distance, showing that Kōmyōji temple is not far from the village.

青鬼赤鬼 Allusion

The typical image of an oni in Japanese legend: skin coloured red or blue, horns on the head, a mouth stretching to the ears, and great physical strength. The blue oni is simply one traditional skin colour for oni, and does not signify sadness.

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.

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English and Chinese glosses are prepared in advance; signed-in readers can generate other languages.

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