Relax tonight while listening - in Japanese - to a short sleep story by Dazai Osamu 太宰治. This story is called 走れメロス or Run, Melos! (in English).
＃朗読　#太宰治　#ナレーション　#睡眠 　#元アナウンサー
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The sound of gentle rain and Yumi's soft voice will help you sleep while enjoying this famous story.
For more see www.TheJapanesePage.com/sleep
While the story is intermediate level, even beginners can listen to begin training their ears to hear the sounds of Japanese.
Tips: Relax in a comfortable position in your bed. Turn the volume down until you hear her voice and a hint of the rain. Slip into a restful sleep and wake up wondering what happened in the rest of the story!
The Story:
Published in 1940, Run, Melos! is a Japanese classic widely read in Japanese schools. Based on an ancient Greek legend, it is a story about a man named Melos who, despite hardships, keeps his promises and values honesty.
The opening line is:
メロスは激怒した。必ず、かの邪智暴虐（じゃちぼうぎゃく）の王を除かなければならぬと決意した。
Melos was furious. He decided that he must get rid of the evil and tyrannical king.
Synopsis from Wikipedia:
Melos is a naïve young shepherd with a sense of equity. The land in which he lives is ruled by Dionysius, a tyrant king who because of his distrust of people and solitude, has killed many people, including his own family members. When Melos hears about the King's deeds one day, he becomes enraged. He decides to assassinate the King, and to this end he sneaks into the castle with a knife, but is caught and arrested. Melos defiantly owns up to his plan to kill the King but pleads with the cynical tyrant to postpone his execution for three days so that he can return home to organise his younger sister's marriage. As collateral for his pledge to return, Melos offers his friend Selinuntius as hostage, to be executed in his stead should Melos not return in time. The King agrees to Melos' conditions and offers him a full pardon should he return moments too late. Indignant Melos insists that saving his own life is not his intention. Informed of the situation Selinuntius readily agrees to the role for which Melos has volunteered him without consultation.
Back in his home town Melos persuades first his eager sister and then her hesitant fiancé that there is urgent need for them to be married, without revealing his reasons. While the wedding festivities are in progress, Melos retires for some rest but oversleeps and only sets off to return to the city the next morning. Along the way he encounters many tribulations, such as a broken bridge due to the overflowing of the river and attacks by bandits. The running and all of these impediments along the way exhaust him. In his fatigue becoming indifferent to the fate of his friend and the impact Selinuntius' death will have on his own reputation, Melos slows down and nearly gives up while taking a break. After long contemplation of the consequence-for the sake of his friend's life and to prevent the King from claiming to have been justified in his cynical view of his subjects-and reinvigorated from drinking water from a clear spring, he rushes off with renewed urgency. As the now desperate Melos runs back to Syracuse, a mutual acquaintance attempts to persuade him to give up, claiming there is no rush to return since Melos is already too late. Melos persists.
At sundown Melos finally arrives at the city, just in time to save his friend Selinuntius from public execution. Melos implores Selinuntius to hit him, in penance for his treachery, and Selinuntius asks him to do the same, for having doubted Melos' return while held captive on his promise. The King, forced to reexamine his position by their display and the crowd's reaction, decides to let Melos go with impunity.
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If you would like to read the original in Japanese, here is a link to the story from Aozora:
www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000035...
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