It’s good to hear that this is quite a difficult chapter. This is my first time reading anything other than a graded reader, and it’s really making me work.
On the plus side, though, I’m learning loads!
Right - I’ve got an afternoon of reading ahead of me - I have some catching up to do.
As from @soggyboy somewhere earlier: 通す not 通る。
Page 134 Sentence 4
「な、たすけ。 そりゃー、おまえ……。」
な I, you, given Name, Name, Title
たすけ Tasuke
そりゃー very, extremely, that is
おまえ you
I’m very confused.
Page 134 Sentence 5
おっかあは、かまどの ひを ふくのを やめて、こっちを むきながら いうた。
Mommy, puffed Out the fire of the cooking stove while turning her face to him, said.
Page 134 Sentence 6
「こんな かおだったかえ。」
Such a changed face.
A thought. If we’ve got a Sumo technique being used on page 128 as explained in the foot note.
Going back to page 124: ひれりつぶす - to pinch and crush, which doesn’t make much sense!
Could it be: 捻り・潰す ー with a twisting throw ・ crush / flatten
Which dictionary do you use? I use Jsho (App on my Smartphone). Sometimes I have the Feeling that it is Not the best one. Or are all dictionaries for Japanese so annoying.
I’m using Jisho on the laptop at home, but I use Shirabe Jisho on the phone, which is great because it is offline.
Page 136 Sentence 1
その かおは、なんと、めも なければ、はなも くちも ない。
How (なんと) does that face not have eyes, a nose and a mouth?
Page 136 Sentence 2
おっかあの てには、なくなった はずの くすりぶくろが にぎられて おった。
Mommy’s Hand なくなった はず の was Holding the medicine bag.
Page 136 Sentence 3
ギャーッ。たすけは、ひとこえ さけぶと、そのまま、どまに ばったり たおれて しまうた、と、いう こと だ。
Ouch! Tasuke shouted and collapsed with a thud on the dort floor.
I don’t understand そのまま and しまうた、と、いうことだ.
Just 4 stories left. Im so glad when this is finally over. 3,5 month are so long and exhausting for just one book.
無くなる (なくなる to be lost/missing N4 Anime Top 900 (!!)*)
JLPT Sensei on はず
はず shows expectation , so it’s “she was holding the medicine bag {that he expects is lost} was in her hand” … For Verbs of “state”, Japanese does まま “state” differently that I think of them as an English speaker… So things that are known (past tense in English) are (still) knowing in Japanese… And the state of beinglost…
Tofugu on ている
I also think まえも 見ずに is “I didn’t look in front of me”, or “without looking”
Thanks for this - more to add to my reading list.
Hmmm… そう…か…なるほど
Yes it could be…
My usual grammar look-up is A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar (I’m old - I like books). Here’s what it has:
Which way or how (he) ran doesn’t know - He doesn’t know where or how he ran?
Is it not the house that is worn out?
I think AWR is right on both of those ↑↑
It would be easier with kanji to be sure.
分かる (わかる to understand WK5) in negative short form is 分からない (わからない)… It fits
And 隠れる (かくれる to hide oneself, hide, be hidden WK27) guess negative to かくれらない doesn’t fit
And 隠す (かくす to hide/conceal WK25) goes to かくしない doesn’t fit
For the second one… If it was the guy (preceding topic/Noun makes by は) who was worn out, it would need a て connecting form for that fragment of the sentence …
But since it’s isn’t (it’s a past tense short form た, like you’re supposed to use in these Adjectival phrases)… Then it goes with the following Noun (じぶんのいえ his own house)…
I own a digital copy of A Dictionary of Japanese Grammar (affectionately called ADoJG by many here in the forum, there even a reading club for it)… but I simply can’t stand reading it! I have only very rarely consulted it… 
I have that book too. When I’ve finished the book, I will try to find all the Grammar Points in all my textbooks and in Bunpro and learn them properly.
I quite like it, but I’m not at your level of understanding yet. I like that the examples are usually quite comprehensive but that the rest of the vocab used is not too complicated.
I don’t really read it, more use it to look things up when I want to try to use a new grammar structure.
I’m going to skip week 12 as I still haven’t finished のっぺらばう and still have うしの足あと to read. Hopefully, that will be a bit easier going.
Jisho has an entry for じゃった meaning だった
As for じゃいえん from page 134, honestly can’t find any authoritative sources, but to me it reads like some casual/slangy version of じゃない
What I’ve noticed is that the stories that are Japanese in origin with male protagonists seem to be more difficult, as they use a lot of contractions and old-timey Japanese language. So this one, the Shinigami story, the very first story about the bucket maker, etc. (Well, actually, not sure if the Shinigami story is originally Japanese or not, but it has the same pattern of colloquial speech and a male protagonist)
Easier stories seem to be Western origin ones since they don’t seem to insert any Japanese language ‘flavor.’ So the red shoes story and so on felt a little easier to me.
This is an excellent book. It’s by the same publishers as the Genki textbooks but is excellent for getting more detail than you’re initially taught in Genki. I’m reading through it from beginning to end at the moment and it’s helped a lot in solidifying grammar points.
Page 137 Title
うしの あしあと
The footprints of the cow.
Page 137 Subtitle
いきものが きらいだった おばあさんの おはかに、ふしぎな ことが……。
At the tomb of the animal disliking grandmother Strange Things …
Page 137 Sentence 1
ある ところに、とても いきものが きらいな おばあさんが いました。
Once upon a time there was a grandmother who hated animals very much.
Yes, for further detail, this is the embedded question structure.
[ statement ] か + わからない
means
Didn’t know [statement]
どこを、どう はしったのか
Where, how did he run?
わからない。
He didn’t know.
