👻 Week 5 10分でよめるこわい話・10 minute Scary Stories (Absolute Beginner Book Club)

:ghost: Welcome to Week 5 of 10分でよめるこわいはなし ・ 10 minute Scary Stories :ghost:

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Week 5 March 29 2025
Start Page 36
End Page 46
Chapters 赤い くつ part 2
Previous week Week 4
Next week Week 6
Home Thread Here

Page numbers may differ between digital and physical copies.

Ending line

End of chapter

:bat: Resources and vocabulary

  • VOLUME 1 Vocabulary spreadsheet
    Please read the guidelines on the first page before adding any words.
  • Advice for those new to reading
  • Jisho is a popular online Japanese-English dictionary.
  • ichi.moe is a tool for parsing out sentences. You can type/paste in a whole sentence and it will try and break the sentence down into its individual parts.
  • Deepl will translate a sentence from Japanese to English. It’s obviously not going to be right all the time, so if you want to check your translation it’s normally better to ask in the thread.

Characters

Japanese English role photo
カレン Karen Girl

:speech_balloon: Discussion Guidelines

Spoiler Courtesy

Please follow these rules to avoid inadvertent ネタバレ. If you’re unsure whether something should have a spoiler tag, err on the side of using one.

  1. Any potential spoiler for the current week’s reading need only be covered by a spoiler tag. Predictions and conjecture made by somebody who has not read ahead still falls into this category.
  2. Any potential spoilers for external sources need to be covered by a spoiler tag and include a label (outside of the spoiler tag) of what might be spoiled. These include but are not limited to: other book club picks, other books, games, movies, anime, etc. I recommend also tagging the severity of the spoiler (for example, I may still look at minor spoilers for something that I don’t intend to read soon).
  3. Any information from later in the book than the current week’s reading (including trigger warnings that haven’t yet manifested) needs to be hidden by spoiler tags and labeled as coming from later sections.
Instructions for Spoiler Tags

Click the cog above the text box and use either the “Hide Details” or “Blur Spoiler” options. The text which says “This text will be hidden” should be replaced with what you are wishing to write. In the case of “Hide Details”, the section in the brackets that is labelled “Summary” can be replaced with whatever you like also (i.e, [details=”Chapter 1, Pg. 1”]).

Hide Details results in the dropdown box like below:

Example

This is an example of the “Hide Details” option.

The “Blur Spoiler” option will simply blur the text it surrounds.

This is an example of the “Blur Spoiler” option.

  • When asking for help, please mention the page number, and check before posting that your question hasn’t already been asked. As the threads get longer, it becomes more convenient to use the Search function, which is located in the upper right corner of the forum. It is the magnifying glass which is near your profile picture! The best way to search is usually to type part of the sentence you are confused about, and select “in this topic”. This will show you all posts within the current thread which has that string of text.
  • Be sure to join the conversation! It’s fun, and it’s what keeps these book clubs lively! There’s no such thing as a stupid question! We are all learning here, and if the question has crossed your mind, there’s a very good chance it has crossed somebody else’s also! Asking and answering questions is a great learning opportunity for everyone involved, so never hesitate to do so!

:fire: Participation

Will you be reading along with us this week?
  • I’m reading along
  • I’m still reading but I haven’t reached this part yet
  • I’ve already read this part but I’m here for the discussion
  • I’m haunting this book club after it’s finished
  • I’ve stopped reading this book
0 voters
4 Likes

I’m very glad that this story is so much easier to follow along with for me, grammar wise. I’d also like to thank darkR4bbit for their effort last week. I’m going to try and actively contribute again!

7 Likes

I also thought this story is a little easier than the first one, although I’m an intermediate learner so sometimes it’s harder to judge. But the first one seemed to have more old timey/fairytale type language and this one I think is a bit more straightforward.

7 Likes

Heyho!
I haven’t really read any Japanese in 3 years (used to read along a little with the BBC back then) so I thought I’d start here and now caught back up with the club. :slight_smile:

I also found the second story much easier. Partially that might be because I’m getting back in the groove :stuck_out_tongue: but I think partially that’s also because the vocabulary seems more common? Not sure.

I stumbled a bit when she asked for her feet to be cut off, I might have glossed a little there… I will probably do a more careful reread during the week. I’m usually not that great at posting questions in these threads but am looking forward to reading through the discussions!

4 Likes

Page 37

Sentence 1
パーティーでは、むちゅうに なって おどりました。

At the Party she became crazy about dancing.

Sentence 2
すると、どうした ことか、おどり つかれて やすもうと おもっても、くつが ひとりでに うごいて とまらない のです。

すると and then
どうした somehow
ことか
おどり つかれて got tired from dancing
やすもうと should have a break
おもっても thought
くつが shoes
ひとりでに by itself
うごいて moved
とまらない didn’t stop
のです

And then somehow she got tired from dancing, she thought she should have a break, but the shoes moved by itself and didn’t stop.

Sentence 3
でも、だれも とめる ことは できません。

でも but
だれも No one
とめる to stop
ことは
できません Not able to

But No one was able to stop her.

Sentence 4
あかい くつを はいた カレンは、おどりながら パーティーかいじょうを とびだし、まちを とおりすぎ、のはらを こえて、くらい もりの なかへ
どんどん はいって いきました。

[あかい くつを はいた] カレンは、
[The Red schoes wearing] Karen

おどりながら while dancing

パーティーかいじょうを とびだし、
ran Out of the dance venue

まちを とおりすぎ、
passed a town

のはらを こえて、
crossed a field/moor

くらい to the extent of

もりの なかへ
Into the forest

どんどん continiuously
はいって entered
いきました went

I don’t understand the こと in These sentences and how to combine the parts of Sentence 4.

3 Likes

Seems like you were quicker than I was, haha. Your translations seem to mostly be the same as mine. Personally, I think the first sentence is slightly different. I think it means that she lost herself to the dance, as if she got into a trance of some sorts.

4th sentence

The fourth sentence describes the red shoes wearing Karen dancing out of the party hall, passing by/through town, crossing a field, into a dark forest. (I believe くらい is dark (暗い) in this context). The onomatopoeia’s function is to make it clear she went through those places one after another.

Attempting to explain こと

こと is something that is hard to grasp and at my current level, I don’t think I could really explain it to you other than that it’s used to make things into a " thing". For example, in the third sentence it’s used to modify the verb to stop (とめる). What it does is.. it transforms it into the general concept of the act of stopping, rather than functioning as a verb in that sentence. This article on Tofugu might be useful, especially the part on actions.

Personally I kind of just accept the way it’s used and go with the flow. I have sort of started to understand it passively, I think? Hence why I struggle with explaining, sorry. It might start to click with experience. But Soggyboy (or someone else) might be able to do a better job than I do, haha.

4 Likes

Page 39 Sentence 1+2
もりの なかに、ながい ひげの ろうじんが たって いて、カレンに むかって 飯居ました。「おまえは、ひとの やさしさを 分すれ、みえっぱりな きもちだけで いきて きた。」

Inside the forest was Standing an old Person with a Long beard and Said, facing Karen: "You vain person forgot the Kind person, Feeling only alive "

I think there is something wrong with my translation.

1 Like
page 37 sentence 2

Only thing you’re missing here is the ても in 思っても, which means ‘even though’

‘And then, somehow, even though she was tired of dancing and thought she would take a break, the shoes didn’t stop moving.’

Oops that’s my bad, I put the ‘extent’ meaning on the vocab sheet before. Fixed now.

Yes, like BurnedGoose said, こと translates literally to ‘thing’ but represents a more abstract/intangible idea, so not a literal ‘thing’ as in object, but a ‘thing’ as in incident, occurrence, idea, and so on. It does not translate directly into English and often disappears in a translation.

It looks like both uses of こと here are essentially part of set phrases/expressions.

In sentence 2 we have どうしたことか which seems to be an expression.

From weblio:

物事の起こった原因際の表現

An expression used when something happens for an unknown reason

In sentence 3 we have ことができる which is a grammar point all on its own, so you can just think of it as one unit meaning ‘to be able to’

Literally, ‘was not able to do the thing of stopping’ = ‘was not able to stop’

2 Likes
page 39

You are close!

ひとの やさしさを 分すれ

So, やさしさ is the noun form of やさしい。Any い adjective can be made into a noun in this way.

やさしい - kind (adjective)
やさしさ - kindness (noun)

Also, note that ‘kindness’ is the noun that’s being modified. If we translate 人 as ‘human’ instead of ‘person’ it makes sense

人のやさしさ = human kindness

‘kind person’ would be やさしい人

‘You forgot human kindness’

みえっぱりな - vain, な adjective

きもち - feeling

みえっぱりなきもちだけで
With only a vain feeling

いきてきた

生きる + てくる

Came to be living/began to be living

the で particle here is indicating ‘how’ she’s living. So, she’s living with a vain feeling/vanity

All together:

「おまえは、ひとの やさしさを 分すれ、みえっぱりな きもちだけで いきて きた。」

“You forgot human kindness, and began to live only with vanity”

3 Likes

I do not read this book but I love seeing your breakdowns! learning very much

4 Likes

That is the best compliment ever :face_holding_back_tears: So glad they’re helpful!

3 Likes

I’m guessing each chapter is it’s own self contained story? I just bought the book and plan on joining next week but want to know if I need to have read the first 45 pages in order to understand what’s going on or if I can just join in next week picking right off at the start of the chapter.

2 Likes

Yes, it’s a short story collection, so you can go ahead and jump in next week!

4 Likes

ばつと して、その 赤い くつを はいて、ずっと おどりつづけるのだ。

Page 39 Sentence 3

ばつ punishment
として as (i.e. in the role of)
ずっと continuously (for a long time)
おどりつづける to continue dancing, to keep on dancing

As punishment, you will wear those red shoes and continue dancing for a long time.

おまえの からだが しなびて、青白く つめたく なるまで、そうやって おどって いるが いい。

Page 39 Sentence 4

からだ body
しなびる to shrivel, to wither
青白い pale, pallid
つめたい cold (to the touch)
そうやって thus, like that
がいい you shall

You shall be dancing like that until your body shrivels and becomes pale and cold.

2 Likes

Looks good!

1 Like

おそろしく なった カレンは、ひっぱったり たたいたりして くつを ぬごうと しました。
This one has a couple of grammar points that were new to me. Here’s my best attempt.

Page 40 Sentence 1

おそろしい terrible, terrifying, frightening
なる to become
ひっぱる to pull
たたく to strike, to knock, to beat
grammar point: たり~たりする things like ~ and ~
ぬく to remove, to get rid of
grammar point: よう + とする try to do

Karen, who became terrified, tried to remove the shoes, which were (doing things like) pulling and tapping.

2 Likes

If you’ve finished this week’s reading, you can move on to week 6 now!

And, as we’ve come to the end of another story, how did it go? (Polls are anonymous)

Difficulty
  • Very hard; I couldn’t have read this with no book club
  • Just right; I didn’t feel overwhelmed
  • Too easy; Book club was not necessary
  • I’ve read harder books than this
0 voters

And did you like the story?

Enjoyment
  • :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
  • :star: :star: :star: :star:
  • :star: :star: :star:
  • :star: :star:
  • :star:
0 voters

If you haven’t finished this week, feel free to continue reading at your own pace.

2 Likes
page 40 sentence 1

Ah, you’re close, but I think the only thing missing is that the shoes are not doing the action of ひっぱったりたたいたりする。The one doing the action is Karen.

I think you may have misidentified this as a noun phrase:
ひっぱったり たたいたりして くつ

The reason it’s not actually a phrase describing a noun is because noun phrases always use the short form present tense verb before the noun. This has the て form so it’s not creating a noun phrase. If we just take the て here as the regular ‘and’ usage:

カレンは、ひっぱったり たたいたりして

Karen hit and pulled and

くつを ぬごうと しました
tried to pull the shoes off.

2 Likes

I assumed that she “tried” to, but where does the “tried” come from? Is it the たり-form?

2 Likes

It’s this:
ぬごうと しました。

〜おうとする means ‘to try to’

2 Likes