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Botchan is from Tokyo in Japan. He becomes a teacher and moves from the big city to a small town on an island. He thinks teaching high school students is easy, but life in the country town is different. Teaching is difficult. His students are difficult. They play tricks on him. Botchan has many problems at school and many questions. He does not know who to believe. He does not know who his friends are. Follow Botchan as he learns good from bad and right from wrong.

In this reader you will find:- Information about Natsume S–oseki- Focus on sections- Glossary of difficult words- Comprehension and extension activities

TagsClassic literature

Natsume S–oseki

Botchan

Natsume s -oseki BotchanY

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ULt ELI R

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ELI s.r.l.

YOUNG ADULT ELI READERS LIGHT

Botchan

ISBN 978-88-536-1588-6

NaTsume s –oseki BoTchaNeli Readers is a beautifully-illustrated series of timeless classics and

specially-written stories for learners of english.

Full text on CDwww.elireaders.com

Classic

Up to 600 headwords Word count: 9450A1

Y o U n G a D U L t R E a D E R S L i G H t

Y o U n G a D U L t R E a D E R S L i G H teLta 1

a1

eLt

B2

The ELI Readers collection is a complete

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Natsume Soseki

BotchanAdaptation by Alastair LamondActivities by Timothy KiggellIllustrated by Toni Demuro

Y O U N G A D U L T R E A D E R S L I G H T

Botchanby Natsume S-osekiAdaptation by Alastair LamondActivities by Timothy KiggellIllustrated by Toni Demuro

Founder and Series EditorsPaola Accattoli, Grazia Ancillani, Daniele Garbuglia (Art Director)

The author would like to thank Janet Borsbey and Ruth Swan for theirprecious contribution to this project.

Graphic DesignAirone Comunicazione - Sergio Elisei

LayoutAirone Comunicazione - Diletta Brutti

Production ManagerFrancesco Capitano

Photo creditsELI Archive

© 2013 ELI s.r.l.P.O. Box 662019 Recanati MCItalyT +39 071750701F +39 071977851info@elionline.comwww.elionline.com

Typeset in 11,5 / 15 pt Monotype DantePrinted in Italy by Tecnostampa Recanati – ERE002.01ISBN 978-88-536-1588-6

First edition: September 2013

www.elireaders.com

Contents

6 Main Characters

8 Before you read

10 Chapter One Botchan leaves Tokyo for Shikoku

18 Activities

20 Chapter Two Botchan meets Badger, Red Shirt, Clown,

Porcupine and Squash

30 Activities

32 Chapter Three Botchan makes many mistakes

42 Activities

44 Chapter Four Botchan has problems with students,

insects and some teachers

55 Activities

57 Chapter Five Who or what is Madonna?

67 Activities

69 Chapter Six Botchan now understands Porcupine and

Red Shirt

80 Activities

82 Chapter Seven Kimonos and European-style suits

92 Activities

94 Chapter Eight Botchan and Porcupine against Red Shirt

and Clown

104 Activities

106 Focus on... Natsume S-oseki

108 Focus on... The Meiji Era

110 Focus on... The London Years

112 Syllabus

These icons indicate the parts of the story that are recorded

start stop

6

Botchan

The head teacher

(Red Shirt)

The art teacher

(Clown)

The principal (Badger)

Main CharaCters

Mr. Hotta (Porcupine)

Kiyo

Mad

onna

(Ms.

Toya

ma)

Mr. Koga (Squash)

7

1 Look at the word groups. Choose the correct word.

2 here are some Japanese words from Botchan. Complete

the sentences below with a Japanese word from the box.

Use the internet if you need to.

kimono • soba • rickshaw • sashimi • tatami • yen

8

Before yoU read

Word Groups

Japanese Words

1 teacher, principal, [student / table]

2 nose, mouth, [shoe / cheek]

3 suit, shirt, [kimono / noodles]

4 knock, break, [swim / hit]

5 agree with, believe, [trust / move]

6 friend, lover, [fiancée / fight]

7 street, road, [car / path]

8 hotel, bed & breakfast, [guest house / restaurant]

9 bed, pillow, [chair / blanket]

10 servant, waiter, [maid / bowl]

1 I went home. I took off my suit, shirt and tie. I put on

my __________ .

2 What is __________? It’s a kind of Japanese noodles.

Often in a soup.

3 This __________ is very delicious. The slices of fish are

very thin.

4 This sake is from Kyushu. It is expensive. A glass of

sake is 20 __________ .

5 I took a train from Tokyo to Kobe. Then I took a

__________ from the train station to the school.

6 The men sat on the __________ in the restaurant. They

listened to the geisha girls singing.

9

3 in the evening, Botchan usually went to a traditional bath

house. here’s how to take a Japanese bath. Put the last

five sentences in the right order.

4 read pages 106, 107 and 110, 111. Complete the

information about natsume s–oseki.

Writing

Bath House

Enter the bath house and take off your shoes. Pay your

money. Walk to the changing room and take off your

clothes. Take a small towel and walk into the bath room.

Sit down. Turn on the water. Wash yourself with warm

water and soap. Wash off the soap carefully. Hang up your

towel. Step into the large bath. The water is deep and hot.

Sit in the bath quietly. Relax. Do not swim! Do not use any

soap or shampoo in the bath!

[ Dry yourself.

[ Get dressed.

[ Walk home.

[ Step out of the bath.

[ Go back to the changing room.

1867: Natsume ____________ was born in Tokyo, Japan.

1884: He studied at ____________. He learned how to

write Japanese haiku poems.

1887: He started to write. He used the name Natsume

S-oseki.

1895: Natsume became an ____________ at Matsuyama

Middle School.

1900-1903: He lived in ____________ and studied

English literature and language. Natsume was not happy,

but he learned how to ride a ____________.

1907: He became a ____________ . His stories were in

the Asahi Shinbun every day.

Kinnosuke

10

2

Chapter One

Botchan leaves Tokyo for Shikoku

I was a very strange child. I did too many bad

things. Perhaps it was something in my family

history.

Once I jumped from the second floor of my

school. I do not know why I did it. I hurt my leg.

I was in bed for a week. My father was angry

with me.

Someone gave me a small knife. I showed

some friends.

‘Your knife is not dangerous,’ said one boy.

Not dangerous? I cut my hand! I remember

the pain.

Another day some friends and I went to some

10

11

rice fields near our house. I put some rocks in

the field to stop the water. Rice must have water.

There was no water, so the rice died.

The farmer was very angry. He came to our

house. He told my mother and father about the

rocks. They gave him some money.

I was a bad son. My father did not like me

very much.

My father and mother always preferred my

big brother. Mother often talked about my life

after school. I did not like school. ‘You must

study. You must work hard. A man must have

a good job: a man needs money,’ she said. I was

very young when she died.

My brother studied English hard. He wanted

to work in a company. He did not like me and

I did not like him. We fought* every day. Once

I cut his head. He told our father. Father was

11

botchan

fight (fought, fought) people hurt each other when they fight

12

natsume soseki-

neighbours people living next door or very nearbully a bad person who hurts others for no reason

servant man or woman who cleans, cooks and helps in another family’s houseMeiji Era from 1868 to 1912 in Japan

angry with me. Father was always angry with

me.

Father decided not to give me money after he

died. I did not like that! Kiyo, our old servant*,

wanted to help me. She cried. She said sorry

to my father for me. She asked him to give me

some money. She helped me.

Kiyo’s father was rich, but he lost all his

money when the Meiji Era* started. Kiyo was

our servant for many years.

Old Kiyo loved me very much. I did not

know why. Perhaps she loved me too much.

My mother and father did not love me. I was

nothing to them. Our neighbours* did not like

me as I was a bully*. My Kiyo was different.

Sometimes, when my parents and brother

were not in the house, we talked.

13

botchan

noodles Japanese food, like spaghetti

‘You are a good boy, Botchan,’ said Kiyo. That

was a surprise. Nobody said good things about

me!

After my mother died, Kiyo’s love for me was

important to me. Sometimes she bought me

nice things. When the night was cold, she made

hot noodles* for me in secret. She gave me some

things to use at school. Our servant!

She gave me things when my father and

brother were not in the house. I did not like that.

‘Why do you give those things to me and not

to my brother, too?’ I once asked Kiyo.

Her answer was a surprise. ‘Your father gives

him everything!’

Father died six years after mother. In April

that year, I left school. Two months later, my

brother finished business school. He was lucky.

14

natsume soseki-

yen Japanese moneyKyushu the third largest island of Japan

He was quick to find a job, but it was in Kyushu*,

far from Tokyo. He decided to move there. I

decided to live in Tokyo to finish school.

We had many old things in our house. They

were my mother’s and father’s things and their

families’ old things. Perhaps my brother got a

lot of money for all those things, but I do not

know. He never said anything to me.

Kiyo was very sad when my brother decided

to move to Kyushu. She liked our house. She

wanted to be my servant.

However, that was too expensive for me. I did

not know what to say. Kiyo moved out of our

house to live with her brother. We were both sad.

It was time for my brother to go to Kyushu.

He visited me in my new place. He gave me

600 yen*. I went to Shimbashi Station to say

botchan

15

Shikoku the fourth largest island of Japan

goodbye. I never saw him again after that.

I decided to go to university for three years.

I was a bad student. What did I want to study?

And which university? One day, I saw a new

school in Tokyo. They wanted more students. I

decided to go there.

For three years, I studied hard. I was never

a very good student, but I finished. The head

teacher of my school spoke to me. A high school

in Shikoku* wanted a teacher of mathematics.

It was only 40 yen a month! The head teacher

asked me to go to Shikoku.

I thought about it. I did not want to be a

teacher. I did not want to move to an island

far from Tokyo, but I did not have any work in

Tokyo. I decided to move to Shikoku. Poor Kiyo!

I could not take her to Shikoku with me.

16

natsume soseki-

rickshaw Japanese two-wheel taxi for 1-2 people

My new school was on an island very far from

Tokyo. Shikoku is a big island, but it looked

very small on the map. I knew nothing about it.

Perhaps that was because it was very far from

Tokyo.

I went to see Kiyo in her brother’s house to say

goodbye to her. She was in bed because she was

not well. She got up when she knew it was me.

‘Kiyo, there is a job in Shikoku for a

mathematics teacher,’ I said. ‘It is far from Tokyo

and it does not pay much. However, I took it. I

leave tomorrow.’

Kiyo was very sad. She wanted to be my

servant in my new house.

She came with me to Shimbashi station. We

went there in rickshaws*. I looked at Kiyo from

the train. She looked at me. ‘Goodbye,’ she said.

botchan

Her eyes were sad, but she did not cry. I

wanted to cry because I was sad, too. After the

train left the station, I put my head out of the

window. Kiyo was there. She watched my train

for a long time.

17

1 Match each question with an answer.

1 [ Where did Botchan jump from?

2 [ How did he cut his hand?

3 [ Why did the rice die?

4 [ Did Botchan like his brother?

5 [ Who helped Botchan?

6 [ Where did his brother find work?

7 [ Why did his brother sell their mother’s things?

a Kiyo, his servant.

b In Kyushu, far from Tokyo.

c He moved and closed the family house.

d With a knife.

e No, they fought every day.

f Botchan stopped the water.

g The second floor of the school.

2 Match each word with a definition. the words are all in

chapter 1.

18

after-readinG aCtiVities

Stop & Check

Words

word definition

1 [ strange a worker, helper in your house

2 [ rice b long, thin food

3 [ job c odd

4 [ neighbour d work

5 [ noodles e someone who lives near your

house

6 [ servant f we eat this plant

c

19

Grammar

3 Write the answers. Use the past tense.

1 Where did Botchan jump from? (jump / second floor) _____________________________________________2 What did his mother and father give the farmer? (give /

money) ______________________________________________3 What did his mother talk about? (talk / life after school) ______________________________________________ 4 What did his brother study? (study / English) ______________________________________________ 5 Why didn’t the neighbours like Botchan? (be / bully) ______________________________________________ 6 What did Kiyo make for Botchan? (make / noodles) ______________________________________________ 7 What did the brother do with their mother’s things?

(sell them) ______________________________________________ 8 Where did Kiyo say goodbye to Botchan? (say /

Shimbashi Station) ______________________________________________

1 Botchan was young when his mother [died / moved].

His [sister / father] did not love him.

2 Kiyo gave [nice / bad] things to Botchan because his

father gave everything to the [servant / brother].

3 His brother [found / ate] work far from Tokyo. He

closed the house.

4 Kiyo [cleaned / moved] out of the house because

Botchan did not have [noodles / money] for her.

5 Botchan [finished / studied] school. He took a [job /

book] in a school on a big island.

4 Complete the summary of chapter 1. Choose the correct

words.

Summary

e.g. He jumped from the second floor of the school.

110

In the Meiji Era, the Japanese government sent many scholars and experts to several foreign countries. The government wanted them to return to Japan with new knowledge and information. They had a plan to make Japan become more equal and competitive with the West. Natsume S-oseki was a famous professor of English literature, so the government sent him to London in 1900 to study literature and the English language.

Voyage to London

The London Years

foCUs on...

Natsume learned about the English language, British culture and society. This influenced how he thought and wrote when he returned to Japan. His London years helped him become one of Japan’s greatest authors. He wrote novels, poetry, haiku, essays and short stories. They are still very popular in Japan. Today Natsume’s works continue to influence new writers.

The British Influence

Natsume’s time in London was not very happy. He had some serious health problems. English culture was very different from Japan’s. It was difficult for him to communicate with the people in his life. His government scholarship was too low to study at Cambridge University.

Natsume took a long train journey to visit Pitlochry in the north of Scotland. He enjoyed his time in Scotland. He also learned how to ride a bicycle in London. He wrote about his experience in his 1905 essay, Bicycle Diary. He bought hundreds of books and sent them all back to Tokyo. He used them for research and teaching his classes at Tokyo University. Now they are all in Tohoku University in Sendai.

Tough Times

Good Times

111

S-oseki Museum in London

S-oseki Museum in London

NounsAbstract, concrete, animate, inanimate, collective, common, proper nouns, countable, uncountable.

Pronouns Interrogative who, what; Indefinite someone, something, everything, anything, nothing.

Quantifiers All, a lot of, some/any, more.

AdjectivesDemonstrative, possessive, qualifying.

Prepositions Place (Position and Direction), Time.

VerbsAffirmative, Negative, Interrogative, Infinitives, regular and common irregular verbs, Present Simple, Present Continuous with present meaning, Simple past, Imperative.Modal verbs can, have to, must.

AdverbsFrequency, manner.

Type of clauseSimple one-clause sentences; two clauses joined with and, but or or. Time clauses introduced by when, before, after.

syLLaBUs

STAGE 1 Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles

STAGE 2 Charles Dickens, Great Expectations William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet Bram Stoker, Dracula William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

STAGE 3 Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray William Shakespeare, Macbeth Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

STAGE 4 James Joyce, Dubliners Mary Shelley, Frankenstein Henry James, The Turn of the Screw Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights Edgar Allan Poe, Stories of Mystery and Suspense Charles and Mary Lamb, Tales from Shakespeare Charles Dickens, A Tale of two Cities Anthony Hope, The Prisoner of Zenda

STAGE 5 Virginia Woolf, Mrs Dalloway Francis Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

STAGE 6 Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness J. Borsbey & R. Swan, Editors, A Collection of First World War Poetry Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest

Edgar Allan Poe, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of NantucketNatsume S–oseki, Botchan

Y O U N G A D U L T R E A D E R S

L I G H T

www.elireaders.com

Botchan is from Tokyo in Japan. He becomes a teacher and moves from the big city to a small town on an island. He thinks teaching high school students is easy, but life in the country town is different. Teaching is difficult. His students are difficult. They play tricks on him. Botchan has many problems at school and many questions. He does not know who to believe. He does not know who his friends are. Follow Botchan as he learns good from bad and right from wrong.

In this reader you will find:- Information about Natsume S–oseki- Focus on sections- Glossary of difficult words- Comprehension and extension activities

TagsClassic literature

Natsume S–oseki

Botchan

Natsume s -oseki BotchanY

oU

nG

aD

ULt ELI R

EaD

ERS | LiG

Ht

ELI s.r.l.

YOUNG ADULT ELI READERS LIGHT

Botchan

ISBN 978-88-536-1588-6

NaTsume s –oseki BoTchaNeli Readers is a beautifully-illustrated series of timeless classics and

specially-written stories for learners of english.

Full text on CDwww.elireaders.com

Classic

Up to 600 headwords Word count: 9450A1

Y o U n G a D U L t R E a D E R S L i G H t

Y o U n G a D U L t R E a D E R S L i G H teLta 1

a1

eLt