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Cover of どんぐりと山猫 (Donguri to Yamaneko)

Upper intermediate · JLPT N2

どんぐりと山猫Donguri to Yamaneko — The Wildcat's Acorn Trial

by Miyazawa Kenji (宮沢賢治, 1896–1933)

  • JLPT N2
  • 6,271 characters
  • 5 parts
  • about 52 minutes
  • 2 easier versions

A short fairy tale by Miyazawa Kenji, told in a warm, playful storyteller's voice. A boy named Ichirō receives a clumsy postcard from a wildcat asking him to come and help with a troublesome trial. The next morning he heads up a mountain valley, chatting with a chestnut tree, a waterfall, mushrooms and a squirrel, none of whom agree on where the wildcat went. What he finds in a golden meadow is a noisy dispute that turns on a simple question: who is the greatest? The tone is gentle and funny, with a quiet sting of satire underneath. For learners, the narration is friendly and uses polite -mashita past tense, and it is full of sound words and repetition that make the scenes easy to picture. The challenge lies in the voices. The wildcat speaks in overblown keigo that suddenly turns gruff, the coachman uses rustic northern dialect, and the postcard is deliberately misspelled. Working out how each character talks is a good part of the fun.

Start reading →Try the easy N4 version

Contents

  1. A Strange Postcard and a SearchOne Saturday evening, Ichirō receives a badly written postcard from a wildcat inviting him to a troublesome trial the next day. The next morning he sets off up a valley stream and asks a chestnut tree, a waterfall, some mushrooms and a squirrel whether the wildcat passed by. Their answers do not agree: the chestnut tree says east, the waterfall says west, and the mushrooms and the squirrel both say south.
  2. The Strange Man in the Golden MeadowIchirō follows a new little path up a steep slope through a dark kaya forest and comes out into a shining golden meadow. There he meets an odd, one-eyed man with goat-like legs who turns out to have written the postcard and is anxious about how poorly he wrote it. Ichirō kindly praises the man's writing, and the man becomes serious and says he is the Wildcat's coachman.
  3. The Wildcat Opens the Acorn TrialIchirō turns and finds the wildcat, dressed in something like a yellow battle coat, who greets him politely and explains that he needs Ichirō's opinion on a troublesome dispute. Hundreds of shining golden acorns in red trousers pour out of the grass. The wildcat, now in a black satin robe, sits before them and urges them to make up, but they shout that the pointiest, or the roundest, is the greatest.
  4. Ichirō Settles the Acorn QuarrelThe acorns keep arguing over whether the pointed, round, big, tall, or best-pushing acorn is the greatest, and the wildcat's shouts and the coachman's whip only quiet them for a moment. When the wildcat asks for help, Ichirō suggests declaring that the silliest, most hopeless acorn is the greatest, and the verdict silences them at once. The delighted wildcat asks Ichirō to become an honorary judge and insists on rewarding him.
  5. Golden Acorns and a Mushroom CarriageThe wildcat suggests a stiff new wording for its postcards, but Ichirō advises against it. As a reward Ichirō chooses golden acorns over a salted salmon head, and a mushroom carriage takes him home. As the carriage goes, the acorns lose their shine, and when it stops at his house the wildcat, driver and carriage vanish. No more postcards ever come, which Ichirō sometimes regrets.

Easier versions

This story is also retold in simpler Japanese. Reading an easier version first makes the original much more approachable.

Before you read

  • Read the postcard in Part 1 aloud. Its odd spellings and awkward phrasing are intentional, so don't look them up as real words. Sound them out and match them to the standard forms. Ichirō's reaction to the card, and the coachman's worry about it in Part 2, only make sense once you see how clumsy it is.
  • Expect rustic dialect from the coachman, such as だべ, そんだら and お出やる. Treat だべ as roughly だろう and そんだら as それなら. You don't need to master the dialect, just recognize these few recurring forms.
  • Notice how the wildcat's speech shifts. He uses stiff, overpolite keigo toward Ichirō, then gruff commands toward the acorns, including forms like 〜たらどうだ. This contrast is where much of the humor comes from, so compare his sentences with Ichirō's plain, boyish speech.
  • Watch for 〜と used for discovery ("when he looked, there was..."). It marks each new surprise on Ichirō's walk and in the meadow. Also watch for 〜てみる, used as he tries asking each creature in turn.
  • Learn a few key words before starting: どんぐり (acorn), 山猫 (wildcat), 裁判 (trial), 馬車 (carriage) and 葉書 (postcard). Also expect many onomatopoeic words. Guess their feel from context rather than stopping to translate each one.

Words to know

The most useful words from the notes across the story.

WordMeaningJLPT
別当べっとうgroom, stableman (one who tends horses); in 馬車別当, the Wildcat's coachman/groomOld word for a man who looks after horses; 馬車別当 = the one who drives the carriage.—
陣羽織じんばおりsleeveless battle coat worn over armourA samurai garment; here it makes the wildcat look grand and official.—
裁判さいばんtrial, court caseThe postcard writes it in kana, さいばん.N3
尖ってとがるto be pointed, sharpdictionary form: 尖るAlso a key word later: the acorns argue about whose head is most pointed (とがってる).N2
谷川たにがわmountain stream, valley stream川 becomes がわ by rendaku.—
はがきはがきpostcarddictionary form: 葉書Usually written in kana or as 葉書.N5
急なきゅうsteep (of a slope)dictionary form: 急急 also means 'sudden' (急に, later in this passage) and 'urgent'.N4
残念ざんねんregrettable, disappointingN4
しまってしまうto put away, to tuck awaydictionary form: しまうThis is the main verb, not the auxiliary 〜てしまう.N3
きのどくきのどくsorry for someone, pitifuldictionary form: 気の毒気の毒になる = to come to feel sorry for someone.N3
利かないきく(in negative) not be enough, not coverdictionary form: 利く〜でも利かない: 'even ~ wouldn't be enough'.N3
文句もんくwording, phrasingAlso commonly means 'complaint' (文句を言う), but here it means the words written on the card.N3
墨すみink (for brush writing)Traditional ink made from soot and ground on an inkstone.N2
もぐってもぐるto crawl into, to dive underdictionary form: 潜るUsed for burrowing under the covers.N2
すきとおったすきとおるclear, transparentdictionary form: 透き通るA favourite word of Miyazawa Kenji for pure, clean air and light.N2

Plot summary

Show the full summary (contains spoilers)

One Saturday evening, Ichirō gets a badly spelled postcard inviting him to a wildcat's troublesome trial. Next morning he walks up a valley, asking a chestnut tree, a waterfall, mushrooms and a squirrel about the wildcat, and their answers conflict. In a golden meadow beyond a kaya forest he meets the one-eyed coachman who wrote the card and cheers him by praising it. The wildcat then appears, and hundreds of golden acorns pour out of the grass, arguing whether the pointiest, roundest, biggest, tallest or best-pushing acorn is greatest. Ichirō suggests declaring the silliest, most hopeless acorn the greatest, and they fall silent at once. The delighted wildcat names him honorary judge. Ichirō advises against a stiff new postcard wording and picks golden acorns over a salted salmon head. A mushroom carriage takes him home. The acorns lose their shine on the way, and at his door the wildcat, coachman and carriage vanish. No more postcards ever come, which Ichirō sometimes regrets.

About the author

Miyazawa Kenji was a poet and writer of children's stories from Hanamaki in Iwate Prefecture. He studied agricultural science in Morioka and later taught at an agricultural school. He devoted much of his life to helping local farmers improve their methods and their cultural lives. He was a devout Buddhist, and his faith, love of nature and interest in science run through his writing. His fame came after his death, with works such as 銀河鉄道の夜, 風の又三郎 and the poem 雨ニモマケズ.

More stories by Miyazawa Kenji →