Night on the Galactic Railroad
銀河鉄道の夜
宮沢賢治 · Japanese
Giovanni, a poor and lonely boy who works before and after school, falls asleep on a hillside during the Festival of the Stars and wakes aboard a…
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Pagera Editor's Note
Giovanni, a poor and lonely boy who works before and after school, falls asleep on a hillside during the Festival of the Stars and wakes aboard a train crossing the Milky Way. His friend Campanella is in the seat beside him. What follows is a journey through constellations and stations where passengers board and leave for reasons Giovanni only gradually understands. Miyazawa revised it for years and never finished it; the version we have is his last, and its final pages redefine everything before them.
Author
宮沢賢治
Miyazawa Kenji (1896-1933) was a Japanese poet and writer of children's stories. He worked as an agricultural teacher in the impoverished northeast and wrote almost entirely for himself, publishing only two books in his lifetime. Night on the Galactic Railroad, The Restaurant of Many Orders and his poetry were recognised after his death and are now read across Japan.
Night on the Galactic Railroad
銀河鉄道の夜
宮沢賢治 · Japanese
Giovanni, a poor and lonely boy who works before and after school, falls asleep on a hillside during the Festival of the Stars and wakes aboard a…
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Original (Japanese)
「ではみなさんは、そういうふうに川だと云われたり、乳の流れたあとだと云われたりしていたこのぼんやりと白いものがほんとうは何かご承知ですか。」先生は、黒板に吊した大きな黒い星座の図の、上から下へ白くけぶった銀河帯のようなところを指しながら、みんなに問をかけました。 カムパネルラが手をあげました。それから四五人手をあげました。ジョバンニも手をあげようとして、急いでそのままやめました。たしかにあれがみんな星だと、いつか雑誌で読んだのでしたが、このごろはジョバンニはまるで毎日教室でもねむく、本を読むひまも読む本もないので、なんだかどんなこともよくわからないという気持ちがするのでした。 ところが先生は早くもそれを見附けたのでした。 「ジョバンニさん。あなたはわかっているのでしょう。」 ジョバンニは勢よく立ちあがりましたが、立って見るともうはっきりとそれを答えることができないのでした。ザネリが前の席からふりかえって、ジョバンニを見てくすっとわらいました。ジョバンニはもうどぎまぎしてまっ赤になってしまいました。先生がまた云いました。 「大きな望遠鏡で銀河をよっく調べると銀河は大体何でしょう。」 やっ
English translation (Pagera AI)
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Pagera Editor's Note
Giovanni, a poor and lonely boy who works before and after school, falls asleep on a hillside during the Festival of the Stars and wakes aboard a train crossing the Milky Way. His friend Campanella is in the seat beside him. What follows is a journey through constellations and stations where passengers board and leave for reasons Giovanni only gradually understands. Miyazawa revised it for years and never finished it; the version we have is his last, and its final pages redefine everything before them.
Author
宮沢賢治
Miyazawa Kenji (1896-1933) was a Japanese poet and writer of children's stories. He worked as an agricultural teacher in the impoverished northeast and wrote almost entirely for himself, publishing only two books in his lifetime. Night on the Galactic Railroad, The Restaurant of Many Orders and his poetry were recognised after his death and are now read across Japan.
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