作品Free Graded Reading
遁げて往く人魂The Fleeing Soul
Nigeru Yuku Hitodama
by 田中 貢太郎 · Tanaka Kōtarō
Night watchmen chase a ghostly fireball into a house, hearing a startling confession.
About this story
About this storyTwo night watchmen chase a mysterious blue fireball, which leads them to a house where a man is having a nightmare.
Read a sample in Japanese
Read a sample in JapaneseSource
SourceThis 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): 「伝奇ノ匣6 田中貢太郎日本怪談事典」学研Ｍ文庫、学習研究社
2003（平成15）年10月22日初版発行
Typed in by Hiroshi_O. Proofread by noriko saito.
Yomimaru changed the spelling to modern kana and modern kanji, replaced some archaic words with modern ones, and rephrased some sentences, keeping their meaning.
The furigana are Yomimaru's.
What you'll learn
What you'll learnTwo nighttime watchmen see a blue fireball, chase it into a house, and overhear a conversation where an old man claims he was chased by them.
Key vocabulary
Key vocabulary| 仕事師 (しごとし) | workman; firefighter (Edo period) |
|---|---|
| 鳶口 (とびぐち) | fire hook (tool used by firefighters) |
| 火の玉 (ひのたま) | fireball; will-o'-the-wisp |
| うなされる | to have a nightmare; to groan in sleep |
| 命からがら (いのちからがら) | barely escaping with one's life |
Grammar points you'll meet
Grammar points you'll meet- V-ている (progressive) N5Indicates an action in progress or a state.二人の仕事師が某夜夜回りに行っている。
- V-てしまう (completion; regret) N4Indicates an action is completed, often with a sense of regret or finality.その火の玉はただある路地へ折れて、その突き当たりの家の格子窓からふわふわと入ってしまった。
- V-てくる (movement toward speaker; inception) N4Indicates an action that comes toward the speaker or starts to happen.家の中から苦しそうな呻きが聞こえて来た。
Cultural notes
Cultural notes- Will-o'-the-wisp (火の玉)Fireballs (火の玉) are a common supernatural phenomenon in Japanese folklore, often seen as spirits or omens. They are similar to Western will-o'-the-wisps.
- Edo Period Firefighting (仕事師)In the Edo period, 仕事師 were firefighters who used tools like 鳶口 (fire hooks) to tear down buildings to prevent fires from spreading. Night patrols (夜回り) were common.
Try a comprehension question
Try a comprehension questionWhat color was the fire the workmen saw?
- Red
- Blue
- Green
- Yellow
Sensei's reading tip
Sensei's reading tipPay attention to onomatopoeia like ふわり and ふわふわ to imagine the fireball's movement.
Topics & grammar
Topics & grammar
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