飯待つ間
Shiki, who skips breakfast, waits hungrily for lunch on his sickbed.
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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 text depicts Shiki, who does not eat breakfast, waiting hungrily for lunch while gazing at the garden—flowers, a butterfly, and three children outside the fence tormenting a kitten—until the meal finally arrives on the tatami. The tone is calm and detailed, with a touch of hungry impatience and idle, everyday charm.
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 noonday gun: in the Meiji period, Japan's major cities fired a cannon at noon to signal the time, called "gohō." In Tokyo the noonday gun was stationed at the former site of Edo Castle and elsewhere, and it was a daily means by which citizens checked the hour.
This is the plant known as 雁来紅, of the amaranth family (葉鶏頭). In autumn its uppermost leaves turn red, looking like a flower though it is not one. Like the cockscomb (雞頭), it counts among the autumn plants.
あたい is a child's word for わたし ("I"), originating in nyōbō kotoba (the speech of court ladies), and was used mainly by children and women.
About the author
Masaoka Shiki (October 14, 1867 – September 19, 1902), pen name of Masaoka Noboru, was a Japanese poet, author, and literary critic of the Meiji period. He is regarded as a major figure in modern haiku, credited with nearly 20,000 stanzas, wrote on tanka reform, and is often counted among the four great haiku masters alongside Matsuo Bashō, Yosa Buson, and Kobayashi Issa.
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.