和尚さんと小僧The Priest and the Apprentice

About this story

A stingy priest lies to his apprentice about candy being poison, but the apprentice outsmarts him.

Read a sample in Japanese

Read the full text with furigana + instant lookups in Yomimaru →

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): 「日本の諸国物語」講談社学術文庫、講談社
1983（昭和58）年4月10日第1刷発行

Typed in by 鈴木厚司. Proofread by 大久保ゆう.

Yomimaru has edited this text for modern readers. Its Aozora Bunko card has the text as the volunteers entered it.

The furigana are Yomimaru's. In the app it is split into 4 parts.

What you'll learn

The stingy priest hides candy, lying that it's poison. The apprentice eats it, breaks a cup, and pretends to die from the 'poison'.

A neighbor brings rice cakes for the priest. The apprentice eats them, smears bean paste on the Buddha statue's mouth, and blames the statue when the priest returns.

Key vocabulary

けちんぼ	stingy person, miser
小僧こぞう	apprentice, young servant (in a temple)
毒薬どくやく	poison
おひがん	Higan (Buddhist equinox week)
御本尊ごほんぞん	principal image of worship (in a temple)

Grammar points you'll meet

• ～てしまう N4Indicates completion of an action, often with a sense of regret or finality.

  残のこらずあめをなめてしまいました。

• ～てはいけない N5Must not; expresses prohibition.

  けっしてなめてはならないぞ。

• ～そう（様態） N4Appears to be; seems like. Attached to verb or adjective stem.

  中なかから温あたたかそうな湯気ゆげが立たって、ぷんとおいしそうな匂においがしました。

• ～から（理由） N5Because; since. Indicates reason.

  どうせけちんぼで欲よくばりの和尚おしょうさんのことだから、みんな自分じぶんで食たべてしまって、一ひとつもくれないにきまっている。

• ～にきまっている N3Must be; it is certain that.

  一ひとつもくれないにきまっている。

Cultural notes

• 和尚 (Priest)Buddhist temple priests in Japan are often called 和尚さん. They live in temples and may have apprentices (小僧).
• お彼岸 (Higan)A Buddhist week during equinoxes when families visit graves and offer food to ancestors. Making and sharing お団子 (rice cakes) is common.
• 御本尊と金仏 (Principal Image and Golden Buddha)The principal image (御本尊) in a Buddhist temple is often a statue of Buddha or a bodhisattva. '金仏' refers to a golden Buddha statue, often hollow.
• 払子 (Hossu)A ceremonial whisk used by Buddhist priests, often made of hair or fibers. In the story, the priest uses it to hit the statue.

Try a comprehension question

Topics & grammar