Chapter 16 of 17 · Explore the Japanese path
Reading · Chapter 16 of 17
A new reading: try it before revealing the help
A second story, with the pronunciation and the English hidden until you ask. Aim for the scene rather than a perfect translation, then open each answer and check your reading.
≈ 4 min of reading · Practise at your own pace
What’s in this chapter
- This time the pronunciation and the English begin hidden.
- Aim for the scene, not a perfect translation.
- If a line feels scrambled, find the last word first — that is the verb — then find the small characters glued to the backs of the others.
- If a single character will not come back to you, reveal the line, take the sound, and keep going — this is checking scene recovery, not kana memory.
- If you can recover who did what, you are ready for the first book, which uses a deliberately smaller vocabulary.
Three new words; everything else has appeared before
Meet these three now so they do not interrupt the story.
| Japanese | Meaning |
|---|---|
| かぜ | wind · blew — the wind is an ordinary doer with an ordinary verb last |
| たおれた | fell over — what a tree does, from たおれる |
| きて | come — くる |
The bird is called ティカ
A bird, a fallen tree, and an old fox
Read each line aloud, say what you think happened, then reveal. If a line resists: last word first, then the small characters on the backs of the others.
- むかしむかし、あるところに 大きい もりが あった。
The opening lump, then: big · forest · there was.
Show answer +Hide answer −
mukashi mukashi, aru tokoro ni ōkii mori ga atta — “Long, long ago, in a certain place, there was a big forest.” - 木の上に、小さい とりが いた。とりの なまえは ティカ。
A sentence that simply names something may drop its だ
da. Show answer +Hide answer −
ki no ue ni, chiisai tori ga ita. tori no namae wa Tika — “On top of a tree there was a small bird. The bird’s name was Tika.” - ある日、かぜが ふいた。そして 大きい 木が たおれた。
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aru hi, kaze ga fuita. soshite ōkii ki ga taoreta — “One day the wind blew. And a big tree fell over.” - ティカは とても かなしかった。
There is no verb in this line.
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Tika wa totemo kanashikatta — “Tika was very sad.” - そこに きつねの ダラが きた。「なぜ かなしいの。」と ダラが きいた。
A question inside a quote, asked with の
no. Show answer +Hide answer −
soko ni kitsune no Dara ga kita. naze kanashii no, to Dara ga kiita — “The fox Dara came there. ‘Why are you sad?’ asked Dara.” - 「わたしの 木が たおれた から。」と ティカが こたえた。
The reason is everything in front of から
kara. Show answer +Hide answer −
watashi no ki ga taoreta kara, to Tika ga kotaeta — “‘Because my tree fell over,’ answered Tika.” - 「わたしと きて。わたしの いえは 小さい。でも いい いえだ。」と ダラが いった。
Three short sentences inside one quote.
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watashi to kite. watashi no ie wa chiisai. demo ii ie da, to Dara ga itta — “‘Come with me. My house is small. But it is a good house,’ said Dara.” - ティカは うれしかった。小さい ともだちは いい ともだちだ。
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Tika wa ureshikatta. chiisai tomodachi wa ii tomodachi da — “Tika was happy. A small friend is a good friend.” The last line is present on purpose: the story was past, the thing it is about is not.