蟹のしょうばいThe Crab's Barber Business

About this story

A resourceful crab starts a barbershop but must adapt when customers lack hair.

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Source

This text comes from Aozora Bunko (青空文庫), the volunteer-run library of Japanese writing that is out of copyright. See this work on Aozora Bunko

Base edition (底本): 「ごんぎつね　新美南吉童話作品集1」てのり文庫、大日本図書
1988（昭和63）年7月8日第1刷発行

Typed in by めいこ. Proofread by もりみつじゅんじ.

Yomimaru has not changed the spelling or the wording.

The furigana are Yomimaru's. In the app it is split into 2 parts.

What you'll learn

The crab starts a barber shop but has no customers. He visits the octopus (no hair) and then the tanuki, who tricks him into shaving his father. The crab works hard but eventually recruits all his descendants to help, explaining why all crabs have scissors.

Key vocabulary

蟹かに	crab
とこや	barber shop
はさみ	scissors
たぬき	raccoon dog (tanuki)
たこ	octopus
ひるね	nap
めんくらう	be dismayed
毛けむくじゃら	hairy, shaggy

Grammar points you'll meet

• ～あげく N2After doing something (often negative outcome)

  蟹かにがいろいろ考かんがえたあげく、とこやをはじめました。

• ～と申しますのは N4That is to say (humble, explanatory)

  と申もうしますのは、ひとりもお客きゃくさんがこないからであります。

• ～というものは N4The thing called (topic marker)

  ところで、蟹かにというものは、あまり大おおきなものではありません。

• ～かどうか N4Whether or not

  よくごらんよ。わたしの頭あたまに毛けがあるかどうか。

• ～ことにする N4Decide to

  蟹かには、じぶんの子こどもたちをみなとこやにしました。

Cultural notes

• Japanese Folk Tales (Mukashibanashi)This story is a classic Japanese folk tale featuring animals with human traits. Tanuki (raccoon dogs) are common tricksters, and crabs often appear in tales explaining natural phenomena. Here, the story explains why crabs have scissors-like claws.
• Onomatopoeia in JapaneseThe word 'ちょっきん' is a mimetic word representing the sound of scissors cutting. Japanese uses many such sound effects to enrich descriptions.

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