経験派The Empiricist

About this story

A novelist's attempt to research pickpockets backfires when he is pickpocketed, or so he believes.

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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): 「定本織田作之助全集　第六巻」文泉堂出版
1976（昭和51）年4月25日発行
1995（平成7）年3月20日第3版発行

Typed in by 桃沢まり. Proofread by 小林繁雄.

Yomimaru has not changed the spelling or the wording.

The furigana are Yomimaru's.

What you'll learn

A novelist, who is a poor writer, decides to write about pickpockets. To see a real pickpocket, he goes out but doesn't find any. On the way home, he realizes his wallet is missing and is happy, thinking he got pickpocketed. However, when he returns home, he finds the wallet on his desk—he had forgotten to bring it. He then changes the title of his story from 'Pickpocket' to 'The Careless Person' and begins writing about a careless person instead.

Key vocabulary

掏摸すり	pickpocket
下手へた	poor, unskilled
おもむろに	slowly, deliberately
うっかり	carelessly, inadvertently
すごすご	dispiritedly, dejectedly

Grammar points you'll meet

• ～たさに N2Means 'because of wanting to see/hear/do something'. Used with 見たさ、聞きたさ, etc. Here: 掏摸の顔を見たさに (because he wanted to see the face of a pickpocket).

  掏摸すりの顔かおを見みたさに、町まちへ出でた。

• ～はずだ N3Indicates expectation: 'it should be that...'. Here: 掏られたはずの財布 (the wallet that should have been stolen).

  掏られたはずの財布さいふがちゃんと、のっている。

• ～（の）だ N4Explanatory or emphatic 'no da'. Adds reason or explanation. Here: 忘れていたのだ (it was that he had forgotten).

  持もって出でるのをうっかり忘わすれていたのだ。

• ～まえに N5Meaning 'before doing something'. Here: 悲しむまえに (before getting sad).

  彼かれは悲かなしむまえに喜よろこんだ。

• ～ように N4Means 'like, as if'. Here: 飛ぶように家へ帰った (he returned home as if flying).

  彼かれは飛とぶように家いえへ帰かえった。

Cultural notes

• Mystery Writer TropeThe story plays on a common trope of writers researching their subjects. In Japan, there is a tradition of writers immersing themselves in real-life experiences to add authenticity.
• The 'Bumbling' AuthorThe protagonist is a '下手な小説家' (poor novelist). This self-deprecating character is common in Japanese literature, often used for humorous effect.

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