👻 Week 2 10分でよめるこわい話・10 minute Scary Stories (Absolute Beginner Book Club)

[lalino_lal]

Page 15 Sentence 4
ごさくは,一日中 おけを うりあるいて いたゆうなふりをして、うちにかえってきました。

Summary

一日中 all day long
うり sell
あるいて walked
いたような (as if he had) i would love to have a explanation to this one
ふり pretend
うち one´s home
かえって return
きました。came

Gosaku pretending as if he had been walking and selling bucket all day returned home.

Page 15 Sentence 5

にょうぼうも、なにごとも なかったような かおをして、ごさくを むかえました。

Summary

も also

なにごとも nothing

なかった was not

ような as if?

かお face

むかえました。to welcome

The wife welcomed Gosaku with a face that also pretended that nothing have happened.

I wanted to add that the wife also pretended because of the も.

Page 15 Sentence 6

大がまや、大なべも、きちんとかたづけてありました。

Summary

大がま cauldron
大なべ large pot
きちんと properly
かたづけて put away

The cauldron and also the large pot was properly putted away. /cleaned.

[lalino_lal]

Im happy to hear that the translation is appreciated. So if no one else is doing the translation i will try to do it whenever i have time.

[CherryApple]

I wasn’t able to read / translate much this week, because I didn’t feel well. I will have to catch up on the Weekend.

[soggyboy]

@poina

the difference between 大がま and 大なべ, as on the vbocab sheet they both say cauldron.

Try googling 大釜 and 大鍋, this story is using partial hiragana for words usually spelled with kanji. I suppose a 鍋 （なべ）is used to mean a modern cooking pot these days and 大釜 brings to mind an old timey cauldron/pot, but I’m not sure why this story uses both. I read the Japanese translation of Harry Potter last year and that always used なべ to mean cauldron. (The Leaky Cauldron etc)

@2000kanji

You might do an image search of 大釜 and 大鍋.

Haha, typed out my whole reply before seeing this! Yes, what 2000kanji said.

@lalino_lal

Page 15 Sentence 2

Good!

page 15 sentence 3

@lalino_lal

やかて

Little typo, やがて

page 15 sentence 4

@lalino_lal

いたような (as if he had) i would love to have a explanation to this one

The いた goes with the previous verb, うりあるいた

ような is a grammar point: ように・ような (JLPT N4) | Bunpro

It simply means like/as if, and modifies what comes after it

Also, I missed a definition in the vocab sheet, うりあるく is ‘to peddle’

[ うりあるいた ] ような
Like he had been peddling

[ うりあるいた ]ような → ふり

Appearance/pretense like he had been peddling

page 15 sentence 5

@lalino_lal

I wanted to add that the wife also pretended because of the も.

That’s right!

@lalino_lal

Page 15 Sentence 6

Good!

@CherryApple

I wasn’t able to read / translate much this week, because I didn’t feel well. I will have to catch up on the Weekend.

Feel better soon!

[soggyboy]

The week 3 thread is posted!

Week 3 10分でよめるこわい話・10 minute Scary Stories (Absolute Beginner Book Club)

Welcome to Week 3 of 10分でよめるこわいはなし ・ 10 minute Scary Stories Learn more about the Absolute Beginner Book Club here Visit the home page for 10 minute Scary Stories here Remember to set this thread and the Scary Stories home page to watching to receive notifications! [scary stories] Week March 8 2025 Start Page 19 End Page 26 (end of chapter) Chapters めし くわぬ にょうぼう part 3 Previous week Week 2 Next week March 22nd Home Thread Here Page numbers may differ be…

Remember, if you haven’t finished this week’s reading, it’s totally fine to keep reading at your own pace. I will keep watching all the book club threads for questions!

[gollorien]

i agree with @CherryApple that the onomatopoeia words are getting ridiculous haha, too many in one chapter! i will learn どっかり and ずらりと in the context of どっかりと座り込む and ずらりと並ぶ and stop for today on those

BTW I couldn’t quite understand what the difference between 座る and 座り込む was but tofugu made a pretty nice article about it

oh and from a google search, i found a yahoo answers page where native speakers seemed to say that they use どっかと more often and どっかりと is mostly a 小説 thing

[Wait]

I struggled with this page, so I may be completely off, but no one else has posted translations yet, so here’s my best attempt.
I’d appreciate any corrections.

ごさくは、さっそく、にょうぼうをよんで、いいました。

Page 16 sentence 1

“Gosaku immediately called his wife and said:”

おら、やっぱり、一人で くらすのが いちばん いい。

Page 16 sentence 2

おら I
やっぱり still, as before
一人で alone
くらすの living, spending time
いちばん いい best

“For me, spending time alone is still best.”

ひまを やるから、おまえは どこへなりと いって くれ。

Page 16 sentence 3

ひま spare time, rest, leisure, time, leave of absence
やる to do, to undertake
から because
おまえ you
どこへなりと anywhere
いって くれ please go[?] I’m not quite sure what to make of this phrase. I’m not familiar with any verb form that would change くれる into くれ.

Here’s my best guess:
Literal: “Because of doing a leave of absence, you go anywhere for me.”
More natural: “For the sake of having time apart, please go somewhere.”

それなら、いますぐ、出て いきましょう。

Page 16 sentence 4

“If that is the case, let’s go immediately.”

This seems odd to me - I’ve previously only seen いきましょう used to mean “let’s [do something],” suggesting doing something together. Did I mess up the previous sentences? Was Gosaku suggesting that they go somewhere to spend leisure time alone together? I can’t figure out how to get that meaning from those sentences, and it wouldn’t seem to make sense in context.

その かわり、大きい おけを 一つ いただきたいのです。

Page 16 sentence 5

“But on the other hand, I would like to have one large bucket.”

いいとも。

Page 16 sentence 6

“Certainly.”

[soggyboy]

page 16 sentence 2

@Wait

“For me, spending time alone is still best.”

I’d say this sentence is more like ‘As expected, living alone is the best’ (as opposed to having a wife). I think he means living alone forever, not just that he wants temporary time off.

page 16 sentence 3

@Wait

ひまを やるから

Found this one on jisho as a phrase meaning ‘to divorce one’s wife.’

‘I’m divorcing you, so’

@Wait

いって くれ please go[?] I’m not quite sure what to make of this phrase. I’m not familiar with any verb form that would change くれる into くれ.

It’s a command form

どこへなりといってくれ

Basically, ‘go away!’

I think this whole sentence has a ruder flavor than your translation, I’d say it’s something like “I’m divorcing you, so get out!”

page 16 sentence 4

@Wait

I’ve previously only seen いきましょう used to mean “let’s [do something],” suggesting doing something together.

You’re right that usually ましょう is ‘let’s do something’ but in this case it’s not. Bunpro says:

Despite regularly being translated as ‘shall we (A)?’, ましょう does not specifically target another person, and can also be used as a declaration that (A) will be done/needs to be done.

Congrats, we found an exception!

“If that’s the case, I shall leave immediately”

The rest is good!

[darkR4bbit]

Hello, this is my first time joining any sort of reading club. I started late and the translations and discussions have helped me catch up fast. Thanks to everyone who has posted before! I’ll do my best to contribute as well.

ごさくはすぐに大きいおけをもってくると、にょうぼうのまえにおきもした

page 16 sentence 5

すぐ immediately
大きい big
おけ bucket
もってくる to bring (something)
まえ in front of
おく to put; to place

Gosaku immediately brought a big bucket and put it in front of the wife.

[darkR4bbit]

その とたんにょうぼうの すがたはおそろしいおにばばあになりました

page 17 sentence 1

その that
とたん now, at the moment
すがた figure; form; shape
おそろしい terrible; dreadful; terrifying; frightening
おにばば hag; witch;
なる to become

At that moment, the form of the wife became that of a terrifying witch.

このよに めしくわぬにようぼうが いるとおもうか

page 17 sentence 2

このよ this world; this life;
めし meal
くう to eatくわぬ non-past Negative
いる to exist
おもう to think; to consider

Do you think there exists in this world a wife that does not eat meals?

めしをくうところを、よくもみていたな！

page 17 sentence 3

めしをくう to have a meal; to eat
ところを when, while bunpro lesson
よくも how dare …; how could …
みていた Compound word: みて + いた
みて to see; to look;
いた indicates continuing action
な hey; used to get someone’s attention

How dare you look while I’m having a meal!?

[Wait]

Great work on these sentences! I had missed the meaning of よくも until you flagged it.

[darkR4bbit]

そういうなり、おにばばあは、あけのなかに、ごさくをぐいとねじこみました

Page 18 sentence 1

そう in that way; thus; such
いう + なりto say + as soon as - [grammar point]
(なり (JLPT N1) | Bunpro)
おにばばあ hag; witch;
ぐいと suddenly and forcefully
ねじこむ to thrust into; to push into; to shove into;

(And thus) as soon as she said that, she forcefully shoved Gosaku inside the bucket

おにばばあは、かるがると、おけをせなかにしょいました

Page 18 sentence 2

かるがる lightly; easily; carelessly
せなか back (of the body)
しょう to carry on one’s back

The witch easily carried the bucket on her back.

[soggyboy]

page 16 sentence 5

@darkR4bbit

大きいにおけ

Little typo, there’s no に between 大きい and おけ

Everything else looks good!

[darkR4bbit]

そして、山の、ほうへ、ごんごんはしっていきました

page 18 sentence 3

そして and; and then;
山 mountain;
ほう direction; way;
へ to
ごんごん bang; clang (onomatopeic word)
はしって to run
いく to got

And then, started to run towards the mountain.

This one took me a bit more time to decipher, but I’m happy with the result.

ごさくは、おけのなかで、したばたしながら、なんとかして、そとへにげだそうとしましたが、おけが大きすぎて、出ることができもせん

page 18 sentence 4

じたばた(onomatopeic) struggling; wriggling; floundering;
ながら while; during; as​

なんとかして somehow or other; one way or another; by some means or other

そと outside
へ to
にげだそ to run away
とする to try to
At this point there’s the particle with the but/however use

大きい large
すぎる to be too much

出る to leave
こと thing
できる to be able to

Gosaku, inside the bucket, while struggling, somehow tried to escape (run away towards the outside), but the bucket was too large and he was not able to get out.

[soggyboy]

These look good, a couple grammar notes:

page 18 sentence 4

@darkR4bbit

とする to try to

You may know this but とする means ‘to try to’ specifically after the volitional form of the verb. So the full grammar point includes the 〜そうとする

@darkR4bbit

こと thing
できる to be able to

ことができる is also essentially a set grammar point.

What the こと is doing here is nominalizing (turning into a noun) what comes before it:

出ることができる

Since you can’t say Verb ができる

??? 出るができる ???

With the こと added in, it becomes grammatical.

[darkR4bbit]

Thanks! Really appreciate the feedback, it makes a lot more sense now.

[rubyx3]

くえー

@poina

Sorry if this is an obvious question, but on page 13 is くえー meant to be an onomatopoeia? I can’t seem to find it online or on Jisho, so just wanted some further clarification!

@soggyboy

@lalino_lal

I can´t translate ちょうしをつけながら but to my guessing it is she is hymning それ、くえー、やれ、くえー,

Yeah, ちょうしをつけながら is a bit confusing, my best guess is that the それ、くえー part is noises from the mouth, and then ちょうし refers to the “vein; mood; way; manner” definition. So something like “With the manner of ‘それ、くえー’, she threw onigiri into the mouth etc”

I asked my Japanese teacher about くえー and apparently it’s the command form of くう (to eat)! Which totally makes sense since we’ve seen くう elsewhere in this story.

And ちょうし is rhythm; にょうぼう is singing this to the rhythm of what is being quoted/sung with the と particle.

Which makes this scene even more funny/weird to me. にょうぼう singing and throwing onigiri into the おにばば mouth.

[soggyboy]

Ah, that makes sense, thanks for getting that clarified for us!