吾輩は猫である
I Am a Cat
A nameless cat observes human life with deadpan wit.
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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
I Am a Cat is Natsume Sōseki's debut novel, serialized in the journal Hototogisu from 1905 to 1906. Told by an unnamed house cat belonging to an English teacher, it observes the teacher, his family, and the intellectual hangers-on around them, satirizing human folly and vanity. It is worth reading for its droll, high-register humor blended with Sōseki's satire of Meiji-era society and its mix of Western and Japanese culture.
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 the Meiji period, a shosei was a young man who lodged in someone else's household, doing odd jobs while pursuing his studies—often a poor student. The cat's claim that shosei 'boil and eat cats' plays on exaggerated popular rumours about them at the time, used here for comic effect.
Here 「おさん」 is not a personal name but a general term for a maidservant or female servant, derived from a common maid's name in the Edo period. The cat uses it to refer to the maid who drives it away; later, 「おさんの三馬を偸んで」 refers to this same maid. Readers may mistake it for a proper name.
This is Taka-Diastase, a digestive aid made from a type of mould by Takamine Jōkichi. It was very popular in the Meiji era. The master has a weak stomach and frequently takes this medicine.
About the author
Natsume Sōseki (9 February 1867 – 9 December 1916), born Natsume Kinnosuke, was a Japanese novelist, poet, and scholar regarded as one of the greatest writers in modern Japanese history. His major works include I Am a Cat, Botchan, Sanshirō, Kokoro, and his unfinished final novel Light and Dark.
Summary prepared with AI from Wikipedia: 吾輩は猫である (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 “Advanced”. 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.