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Cover of ごん狐 (Gongitsune)

Upper intermediate · JLPT N2

ごん狐Gongitsune — Gon's Chestnuts

by Niimi Nankichi (新美南吉, 1913–1943)

  • JLPT N2
  • 4,792 characters
  • 6 parts
  • about 40 minutes
  • 3 easier versions

Gongitsune is one of the best-known children's stories in Japan and has long been a staple of elementary school textbooks. The narrator says he heard it as a child from an old man in his village. It follows Gon, a lonely little fox who lives by himself in the woods near a farming village and spends his days playing tricks on the villagers. One autumn a thoughtless prank against a poor young man named Hyōjū leaves Gon feeling guilty. He sets out, in secret, to make things right. The tone is gentle and quiet, with a strong feeling of the seasons: rain-swollen rivers, red spider lilies, chestnuts and mushrooms in the hills. For learners, the narration is friendly です/ます storytelling full of vivid onomatopoeia, and much of the story is told through Gon's small, private thoughts. The difficulty comes from the old rural setting (fishing nets, funerals, matchlock guns) and the rustic dialogue, which uses older and dialectal forms. The story is short, but its closing lines stay with many readers.

Start reading →Try the easy N5 version

Contents

  1. Gon, the Lonely Little Trickster （一）The narrator tells a story he heard as a child about Gon, a lonely little fox who lives in the hills near Nakayama and plays tricks on the villagers. One autumn, after several days of rain, Gon sees Hyōjū fishing in the swollen river and throws his catch back into the water. When Gon tries to take a big eel, it coils around his neck, Hyōjū shouts at him, and Gon runs off to his den with the eel still wrapped around him.
  2. A Funeral at Hyōjū's House （二）About ten days later, Gon notices the village women getting ready for something and finds a crowd at Hyōjū's house, where a funeral is being prepared. Hiding in the graveyard, he sees Hyōjū carrying the memorial tablet and realises that Hyōjū's mother has died. That night in his den, Gon decides she must have died wishing for the eel he stole, and he regrets his prank.
  3. Sardines, Chestnuts and a Mistake （三）Gon sees that Hyōjū, whose mother has died, is now all alone like himself. To make up for the eel, he steals sardines from a peddler and throws them into Hyōjū's house, but Hyōjū is mistaken for a thief and beaten because of them. Feeling sorry, Gon begins secretly leaving chestnuts, and later matsutake mushrooms, at the entrance to Hyōjū's storehouse day after day.
  4. Gon Follows Hyōjū in the Moonlight （四）On a moonlit night Gon hides by the road and overhears Hyōjū telling his friend Kasuke that someone has been leaving chestnuts and mushrooms for him every day. Gon follows the two men to Kichibē's house, where villagers are gathering for a Buddhist prayer meeting. He crouches by the well outside and listens as the sutra chanting begins.
  5. Thanks Given to the Wrong One （五）Gon waits by the well until the prayer gathering ends, then follows Hyōjū and Kasuke home, walking on Hyōjū's shadow. Kasuke says the mysterious gifts must come from the gods, who pity Hyōjū for being all alone, and tells him to thank them every day. Gon is disappointed: he is the one bringing the chestnuts and mushrooms, yet the gods get the thanks.
  6. Gon's Last Visit （六）The next day Gon brings chestnuts to Hyōjū's house again, but Hyōjū sees a fox slipping inside, thinks Gon has come to make mischief, and shoots him. Only then does he notice the chestnuts on the floor and realise that Gon was the one who had been leaving the gifts. Gon, dying, nods, and Hyōjū drops his gun as smoke still rises from its barrel.

Easier versions

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

Before you read

  • The narration is almost entirely in the past polite form (～ました, ～ていました, ～でした). Once you are used to it, the storytelling rhythm becomes easy to follow. Gon's thoughts, by contrast, appear in 「」 in casual plain form (～だな, ～んだろう), so watch for the switch.
  • Onomatopoeia and mimetic words carry much of the action and mood: ぴょいと, そっと, ちょいと, ぽんぽん, かたかた and similar words. Learn to read them as adverbs describing how something moves or sounds, not as vocabulary to translate word for word.
  • The villagers' dialogue is old rural speech. Expect おれ/わし, おっ母 (mother), ぬすと (= ぬすびと, thief), and the dialectal honorific 思わっしゃって (roughly 思われて/お思いになって). Katakana is also used for drawn-out vowels, as in うわア.
  • Learn a few key nouns first, because the plot turns on them: うなぎ (eel), いわし (sardine), 栗 (chestnut), 松たけ (matsutake mushroom), 葬式 (funeral), 神さま (the gods), 火縄銃 (matchlock gun).
  • Pay attention to the explanatory の in the final lines (～だったのか). It expresses sudden realization, and it is the emotional key to the ending.

Words to know

The most useful words from the notes across the story.

WordMeaningJLPT
しゃがんでしゃがむto crouch, squatdictionary form: しゃがむN2
物置ものおきstorehouse, shedN2
一人ぼっちひとりぼっちall alone, lonelyStresses loneliness, not just being by oneself. This is a key theme of the story.—
つまらないつまらないdisappointing, no fun, not worth itHere not "boring" but "what a letdown."N5
家内かないwifeHere used for another man's wife. In modern Japanese, 家内 is mostly a humble word for one's own wife.N4
すいていましたすくto comb (hair)dictionary form: 梳くUsually written in kana. Used with 髪.N4
ふみふみふむstepping again and againdictionary form: 踏むRepeating a verb stem (ふみ＋ふみ) shows an action repeated as one moves along.N4
お礼おれいthanks, gratitudeお礼を言う = to say thank you.N4
いたずらいたずらmischief, prankいたずらをする means to play a prank.N3
堤つつみbank, embankmentA literary word. 土手 (どて), used later, is the everyday equivalent.N3
ぼんやりぼんやりabsent-mindedly, vacantlyN3
じっとじっと(keeping) perfectly stillじっとする = to stay motionless; also じっと見る, to stare.N3
ふしぎふしぎstrange, mysteriousdictionary form: 不思議Na-adjective: ふしぎなこと = a strange thing.N3
あわれにあわれpitiful; あわれに思う = to feel pity fordictionary form: 哀れN3
しげったしげるto grow thickly, be overgrowndictionary form: 茂るUsed for dense plants and trees.N2

Plot summary

Show the full summary (contains spoilers)

Gon, a mischievous young fox living alone, steals the eel and fish that Hyōjū has caught in the river. Ten days later he sees the funeral of Hyōjū's mother. He guesses that she had wanted to eat eel before she died, and that his prank took it from her. Now Hyōjū is alone, just like Gon. To make amends, Gon throws stolen sardines into Hyōjū's house, but Hyōjū is beaten as a thief because of it. After that, Gon leaves chestnuts and matsutake mushrooms every day. Hyōjū's friend Kasuke tells him the gifts must come from the gods, and Gon feels this is unfair. The next day Hyōjū sees the fox slip into his house and shoots him. Then he finds the chestnuts and realizes: 'Gon, it was you?' Gon nods with his eyes closed.

About the author

Niimi Nankichi was a Japanese writer of children's stories, poems and songs from Handa in Aichi Prefecture. The countryside of that area is widely thought to lie behind the village and hills of Gongitsune. He began writing as a young man. Gongitsune appeared in the children's magazine Akai Tori (The Red Bird), edited by Suzuki Miekichi. Niimi later worked as a teacher at a girls' school while continuing to write. His health was poor, and he died of tuberculosis while still in his twenties. Many of his works were published and became widely known only after his death. Besides Gongitsune, he is especially remembered for Tebukuro wo Kai ni (Buying Mittens).

More stories by Niimi Nankichi →