Japanese Graded Readers: Fairy Tales and Short Stories with Read-aloud Method
Lesson 5-1: 走れメロス / Run, Melos!
Japanese Script
メロスは怒った。悪い王様を許せないと思いました。メロスは難しいことがわかりません。メロスは村で楽しく生活をしていました。しかし、メロスは悪いことを許せません。メロスは村からシクラスという街に来ました。メロスにはお父さんもお母さんもいません。奥さんもいません。１６歳の妹と二人で生活をしています。妹はもうすぐ結婚します。メロスは結婚式の用意のために買い物をしに街に来たのです。街を歩いていると、メロスは街がおかしいと思いました。前に来た時より、街がとても静かなのです。そこで、メロスは街の人に聞きました。「なぜ街が静かなのですか？」
English Translation
Melos was angry. He thought that he could not forgive the bad king. Melos didn’t understand difficult things. Melos was living a happy life in a village. However, Melos could not forgive bad things. Melos came to the town named Syracuse from the village. Melos had no father, mother nor wife. He was living with his sixteen-year-old younger sister. She would get married soon. Melos came to the town to go shopping to prepare for the wedding. While he was walking in the town, Melos thought that the town was strange. The town was much quieter than when he came before. So, Melos asked a person in the town, “Why is the town quiet?”
Vocabulary
| Words | Types | Meanings |
|---|---|---|
| 王様 | noun | king |
| 許す | u-verb | to exempt, to excuse, to pardon, to forgive, to release |
| 村 | noun | village |
| 奥さん | noun | (Honorific) wife, married lady, madam |
| 妹 | noun | younger sister |
| もうすぐ | set phrase | very soon |
| 買い物 | noun | shopping |
| おかしい | i-adjective | strange, odd, funny, peculiar, weird, unusual |
| 静か | na-adjective | quiet, silent |