病
Shiki recalls how his illness began on a ship home from Dalian.
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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 begins with the narrator coughing up blood aboard a ship returning home, then follows him through the cramped, low-ceilinged quarters where he takes his medicine alone amid boredom and worry, longing to reach Japan. The prose is plain and concrete, giving a restrained, realistic feeling of discomfort.
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.
In May 1895 (Meiji 28), Shiki returned home via the Liaodong Peninsula as a war correspondent. The Shimonoseki peace treaty had just been signed in April, and transport ships carrying troops, civilian labourers and journalists together made the return voyage—which explains the quarantine and cholera matters mentioned later.
Japanese civilian hired workers who accompanied the army during the Sino-Japanese War, doing carrying and odd jobs. Their status was below that of soldiers, and they received the worst treatment aboard ship.
A nickname earned because of the poor food served on board. Pickled plums were the most meagre side dish in a rough Japanese diet, so the mocking name carries a note of irony.
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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This one is marked “Intermediate”. Every word is glossed, so you can keep reading even with a small vocabulary.
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