鼓の音The Sound of a Drum

Read a sample in Japanese

What you'll learn

The boat house owner hears drumming, sees a vanishing couple, later a maid reports the same phenomenon. He consults a blind masseur who reveals a double suicide from twenty years ago.

Key vocabulary

Grammar points you'll meet

• 〜ながら N4While doing (action 1), (action 2) occurs or is done. Connects two simultaneous actions.
  柳橋の船宿の主翁は、二階の梯子段をあがりながら、他家のようであるがどうも我家らしいぞ、と思った。
• 〜たなり（で） N1Indicates that an action is done and the state resulting from that action continues without change. Often translated as 'just...without doing anything else'.
  主翁は入口に立ったなりで、考え深そうな眼つきをしていた
• 〜てたまらない N2Indicates that a feeling or state is so strong that one cannot bear it. Often translated as 'extremely', 'unbearably'.
  どうしても不思議でたまらないので、某日、この土地に昔から住んでいると云う按摩を呼んだ時に、肩を揉んでもらいながら聞いてみた。

Cultural notes

• Ghost stories and the supernatural in Japanese literatureThis story is a classic example of a 'kaidan' (怪談) or ghost story, often involving tragic love, jealousy, or unresolved issues. The setting of a boat house on a river and mention of cherry blossom viewing (花見) evoke a traditional Edo-period atmosphere.
• Blind masseurs (按摩) in Edo periodBlind masseurs were common in old Japan, often serving as healers and sometimes as storytellers or informants due to their travels. Their blindness was sometimes symbolically linked to seeing visions or knowing secrets.

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Topics & grammar

Short Storyghost storymysteryillusioneeriesuspenseful〜ながらwhile (doing both)〜てたまらないunbearably / can't stand it