Let's read "Dancing Skeletons"! Part 2/Japanese Learning Support LLC | blog

Let's read a story called The Dancing Skeleton.

Last time we introduced part 1, so this time it's part 2!

Summary of the previous episode ↓

There were two good friends named Rokubei and Shichibei. Rokubei was earnest, but Shichibei was lazy, so even after going to work in town, Shichibei had a hard time saving up money. On the day they were returning to the village, Shichibei pushed Rokubei off a bridge and took Rokubei's money for himself. A year later, Shichibei was heading to town again to earn money, but on the way he met a skeleton...

If you want to read the whole of "Dancing Skeleton" part 1, click here ↓

https://nihongojikan.jp/blog/20240811-4296/

"Dancing Skeleton" part 2

Skeleton: "Shichibei...!"

*Skeleton: A corpse that has turned into bones

Shichibei: How do you know my name?

Skeleton: "Hahaha, I'm Rokubei."

Shichibei: "Eh? What? You're Rokubei?"

Skeleton: "That's right. I'm the Rokubei. You're going out to town again to make some money, aren't you? If so, take me with you. I'll dance in front of everyone, and you can make some money."

At first Shichibei didn't know what to do, but he finally wrapped the skeleton in a furoshiki and set off for town.

When they arrived in town, Shichibei unfolded the furoshiki and took out the skeleton.

Skeleton: "Now, let's get some customers."

Shichibei: "This is a very rare skeleton dance! Won't you come and see it?"

After a while, customers began to arrive in droves.

The Rokubei skeleton showed off his skillful dancing.

This was very well received by the customers and we were able to make a lot of money.

Shichibei counted the money he had earned and said with satisfaction.

Shichibei: "Wow, I can't believe I can make so much money! I want to go back to the village and show it to the villagers. I'm sure I'll become very popular."

So Shichibei wrapped the skeleton in the furoshiki again and hurried back to the village.

Shichibei told everyone in the village that he was returning.

Shichibei: "Hey! I want to show everyone something interesting!"

Villager: "Oh, Shichibei's back. What's interesting?"

Shichibei: "It's a very rare skeleton dance! Come on, is everyone here?"

Shichibei gathered all the villagers together and performed the skeleton dance.

The Rokubei skeleton began dancing again, and the villagers were amazed, their eyes wide with amazement.

Suddenly the skeleton stopped dead and cried out:

Skeleton: "I'm Rokubei who fell off the bridge a year ago. But it was actually Shichibei who pushed him off."

The skeleton told of an incident that had occurred on that bridge a year ago.

Villager: "Wh-w-what did you say? Shichibei pushed him off?"

Skeleton: "Yeah, and he took all my money and all the souvenirs for himself!"

Villager: "Is that so?! I thought so. I thought it was strange that Shichibei, who was such a lazy guy, would come home with so much money!"

The villagers became angry and started hitting and kicking Shichibei...

Shichibei: "Forgive me!"

The villagers took the crying Shichibei to the police.

How was it?

The story was about Rokubei, who had turned into a skeleton, getting revenge on Shichibei.

Did you enjoy reading it?

Now, let me explain some of the Japanese grammar that appears in the text.

"Attracting customers"

"Customers flock together"

What is the difference between these two sentences?

In the text,

① [Gather] Skeleton: "Now, gather some customers."

② [Gather] After a while, customers started to gather in droves.

This is how it was used.

Let's look at the different parts.

First, notice that the verbs are different.

In ①, "collect" is used, and in ②, "gather" is used.

This is not a conjugation of the same verb, but a different verb.

So, for example, when they are conjugated into the te form, they become different forms such as "collect" and "attach."

① "To collect" is called a transitive verb, while ② "To collect" is called an intransitive verb.

Transitive verbs mean that someone is changing something through some action or processing something.

Example: I attract customers.

"Collecting" is my action. What do I collect? Customers.

[Who?] Me [What?] Customer [What to do?] Collect

The structure is as follows.

Intransitive verbs are used when something or a person changes or becomes in a certain state.

Example: Customers gather.

"Gathering" is an action taken by customers.

[Who?] Customers [What will happen?] Gathering

The structure is as follows.

Next, let’s look at particles.

As I said earlier, transitive verbs mean that someone manipulates something, changes it, or processes it, so we use "wo" for the target.

Intransitive verbs are actions that the person themselves takes, so there is no "wo" (wo). "ga" (ga) is used.

Let's look at this using the transitive verb "tsukeru" and the intransitive verb "tsuku."

(I) turn on the light.

The lights come on.

So, let's look at some examples of when to use transitive and intransitive verbs.

Transitive verb "attach"

A: Isn't this room dark?

B: Yes, can you turn on the light?

A: Yes! I got it !

Intransitive verb "tsuku"

A: Oh, the light at the entrance of this house turns on automatically!

B: That's right. There is a sensor, and when someone passes by the light turns on.

It's easy to understand when you look at it like this.

In the case of transitive verbs, Mr. B pressed the light switch and turned the lights on.

Intransitive verbs are used when the lights turned on automatically, even though neither A nor B had done anything. Intransitive verbs are used when something happens automatically, or when you do something yourself.

How was it?

Today we talked about "Dancing Skeletons" part 2 and transitive and intransitive verbs.

I hope this will be helpful in your Japanese language studies.

It's still hot, but let's study hard this summer!

See you in the next blog!