人工心臓
Since medical school, the narrator has chased an artificial heart.
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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 passage unfolds as a reporter's visit to a physiologist, who recalls how he came to invent an artificial heart after first hearing of the 'artificial amoeba' and 'artificial heart' in medical school, and then explains how inorganic materials like nitric acid, mercury, and potassium dichromate can imitate living motion. It reads like a leisurely, first-person recollection mixed with scientific explanation, in a calm, old-fashioned storytelling tone.
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.
The tengu is a creature from Japanese folklore, depicted with a red face and a long nose; tengu masks are characterised by an exaggerated long nose. Here, the mask's nose slowly stretching out describes the movement of an amoeba extending its pseudopodia.
Potassium dichromate (K₂Cr₂O₇). In chemical nomenclature of the Meiji and Taishō periods, 「加里」 was commonly used for potassium (カリウム). At the time, science education in Japan largely adopted the German system of chemical terminology.
The potential difference produced when different metals come into contact with an electrolyte, today called the galvanic electromotive force. Physics textbooks of the Meiji period used the term 「接触電気」, derived from the principle of the Voltaic cell.
About the author
Kosakai Mitsuji (8 October 1890 – 1 April 1929), better known by the pen name Kosakai Fuboku, was a Japanese medical scientist and crime writer.
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 “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.