仙人The Hermit

About this story

A man named Gonsuke arrives in Osaka determined to become a hermit. He goes to an employment agency and insists they find him a position as a hermit, arguing that their sign promises to handle all kinds of job placements. The clerk is perplexed but eventually Gonsuke's persistence leads to an unexpected adventure.

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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): 「芥川龍之介全集5」ちくま文庫、筑摩書房
1987（昭和62）年2月24日第1刷発行
1995（平成7）年4月10日第6刷発行

Typed in by j.utiyama. Proofread by かとうかおり.

Yomimaru changed the spelling to modern kana and modern kanji, and replaced classical grammar and some archaic words with modern ones.

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

What you'll learn

In Osaka, a country man named Gonsuke asks an employment agency to place him as a live-in servant so he can become a hermit. After a clever argument about the agency's sign, a doctor's sly wife takes him in for 20 years of unpaid labor. When the time comes, she orders him to climb a pine tree and let go; instead of falling, he becomes a hermit and floats into the sky.

Key vocabulary

奉公ぼうこう	live-in service; working as an apprentice or servant
口入くちいれ屋や	employment agency (Edo-era term)
仙人せんにん	Daoist immortal/hermit; a person with supernatural powers
番頭ばんとう	head clerk; shop manager
紋附もんつき	kimono with a family crest, worn on formal occasions
太閤たいこう	Title for a retired regent; commonly used for Toyotomi Hideyoshi
操あやつり人形にんぎょう	marionette; puppet
栄耀栄華えいようえいが	worldly splendor and prosperity

Grammar points you'll meet

• ～てしまう N4Emphasizes completion, often with regret or a sense of finality. Here Gonsuke reflects that even great people die in the end.

  ただあの大阪おおさかの御ご城しろを見みたら、太閤たいこう様さまのように偉えらい人ひとでも、いつか一いち度どは死しんでしまう。

• ～そうです（伝聞） N4Hearsay: 'it is said that...' The narrator uses it to report the legendary detail about Yodoya Tatsugoro.

  何なにでも淀よど屋や辰五郎たつごろうは、この松まつの雪景色ゆきげしきを眺ながめるために、四よん抱かかえにも余あまる大木たいぼくをわざわざ庭にわへ引ひかせたそうです。

• ～ながら N4Means 'while doing...' It describes Gonsuke moving his knees as he starts making his argument.

  すると権助ごんすけは不服ふふくそうに、千草ちぐさの股引ももひきの膝ひざをすすめながら、こんな理屈りくつを云いい出だしました。

• ～ば / ～れば N4Conditional 'if'. The doctor warns that if Gonsuke lets go, he will fall onto the stones below.

  落おちれば下したには石いしがあるし、とても命いのちはありゃしない。

• ～ために N3Expresses purpose: 'in order to'. Here it explains why the great tree was moved.

  何なにでも淀よど屋や辰五郎たつごろうは、この松まつの雪景色ゆきげしきを眺ながめるために、四よん抱かかえにも余あまる大木たいぼくをわざわざ庭にわへ引ひかせたそうです。

• ～ず N3Negative, literary equivalent of ないで: 'without doing'. Gonsuke does not fall.

  が、離はなれたと思おもうと落おちもせずに、不思議ふしぎにも昼間ひるまの中空なかぞらへ、まるで操あやつり人形にんぎょうのように、ちゃんと立たち止どまったではありませんか？

Cultural notes

• The Noren Shop Curtain and Edo-Period CommerceNoren are short curtains hung at shop entrances, often bearing the shop's name or trade. Gonsuke cleverly uses the sign '万口入れ所' (all-purpose placement) to argue that the employment agency cannot refuse him.
• Taikō and Osaka CastleTaikō is the title commonly used for Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the great unifier who built Osaka Castle. Gonsuke is moved by the thought that even a figure as great as Hideyoshi eventually dies, which sparks his desire to become an immortal hermit.
• Yodoya Tatsugorō and Osaka Merchant WealthYodoya Tatsugorō was a legendary wealthy Osaka merchant. The story's closing line connects the pine tree myth to his famous extravagance, a light nod to Osaka's commercial culture.
• The 'Old Fox' Trickster WifeThe doctor's wife is nicknamed 'Old Fox' (古狐), meaning a sly, cunning person. In folklore, foxes are shape-shifting tricksters, and her cunning behavior drives the story's humor.

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