作品Free Graded Reading
お鍋とお皿とカーテンThe Pot, the Plate, and the Curtain
Onabe to Osara to Kāten
by 村山 籌子 · Murayama Kazuko
Kitchen utensils rebel against their boring jobs in this humorous tale.
About this story
About this storyA pot, a plate, and a curtain try to escape their monotonous kitchen chores but encounter a problem.
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): 「日本児童文学大系 第二六巻」ほるぷ出版
1978（昭和53）年11月30日初刷発行
Typed in by 菅野朋子. Proofread by noriko saito.
Yomimaru changed the spelling to modern kana and modern kanji.
The furigana are Yomimaru's. In the app it is split into 2 parts.
What you'll learn
What you'll learnA pot, plate, and curtain living in a kitchen decide to run away. The curtain gets stuck to a iron rod because its head is attached. The pot and plate try to help but the pot ends up being tickled and thrown away, causing the pot to hide in shame. In the end, they all stay in the kitchen.
Key vocabulary
Key vocabulary| お鍋 (おなべ) | pot |
|---|---|
| お皿 (おさら) | plate |
| カーテン | curtain |
| 台所 (だいどころ) | kitchen |
| にげだす | to run away |
Grammar points you'll meet
Grammar points you'll meet- ～てゐる (old spelling of ～ている) N5Expresses ongoing action or state. Here used with old spelling ゐる.お鍋とお皿とカーテンが くらしてゐました。
- ～ことにした N4Expresses a decision to do something.お台所から にげだすことに しました。
- ～ても～ても (repetition) N5Repeating ～ても emphasizes 'no matter how much'.まつても まつても カーテンが きません。
- ～うとする N4Expresses an attempt to do something.あたまをてつのぼうから、はづさうとしました。
Cultural notes
Cultural notes- じゃんけん (Rock-Paper-Scissors)A common hand game in Japan used to make decisions. The pot and plate play janken to decide who climbs the curtain.
Try a comprehension question
Try a comprehension questionWhy did the pot, plate, and curtain decide to run away?
- They were tired of doing the same job every day.
- They wanted to find a new home.
- They were angry at each other.
Sensei's reading tip
Sensei's reading tipPay attention to onomatopoeia like からんころん (clattering sound) to visualize actions.
Topics & grammar
Topics & grammar
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