Birds, Vol. III, No 5, May 1898-Various

These are the first two chapters of Natsume Sōseki's masterpiece, "I Am A Cat" (Wagahai wa Neko de Aru). It is recognized as a landmark of modern Japanese literature, with its humorous but insightful depiction of society as seen through the eyes of a cat. The full work was published in serial form, in ten installments, in 1905-1906. Soon after, Kan-ichi Ando published an English translation of the first two chapters. Sadly, there is no translation of the full work in the public domain, but because of its episodic structure, this excerpt can easily stand on its own. - Summary by Peter Eastman