The Sleepless Nights
The Sleepless Nights
1. Counting Frogs
Once upon a time, there was a girl who suffered from insomnia. She had difficulty sleeping due to a lot of stress. Her mother gave her some advice so that she would be able to sleep more easily. She said, “If you can't sleep, try counting something until you can.” So the girl began counting something:
蛙が１匹 (かえるが いっぴき) Here is a frog.
蛙が２匹(かえるが にひき) Here are two frogs.
蛙が３匹(かえるが さんびき)Here are three frogs.
蛙が４匹(かえるが よんひき)
蛙が５匹(かえるが ごひき)
蛙が６匹(かえるが ろっぴき)
蛙が７匹(かえるが ななひき)
蛙が８匹(かえるが はっぴき)
蛙が９匹(かえるが きゅうひき)
蛙が10匹(かえるが じゅっぴき)
蛙が11匹(かえるが じゅういっぴき)
蛙が12匹(かえるが じゅうにひき)
蛙が13匹(かえるが じゅうさんびき)
蛙が14匹(かえるが じゅうよんひき)
蛙が15匹(かえるが じゅうごひき)
蛙が16匹(かえるが じゅうろっぴき)
蛙が17匹(かえるが じゅうななひき)
蛙が18匹(かえるが じゅうはちひき)
蛙が19匹(かえるが じゅうきゅうひき)
蛙が20匹(かえるが にじゅっぴき)
蛙が21匹(かえるが にじゅういっぴき)
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蛙が100匹(かえるが ひゃっぴき)
蛙が101匹(かえるが ひゃくいっぴき)
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蛙が1,000匹(かえるが せんびき)
蛙が1,001匹(かえるが せんいっぴき)
蛙が2,000匹(かえるが にせんびき)
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蛙が10,000匹(かえるが いちまんびき)
蛙が10,001匹(かえるが いちまんいっぴき)
蛙が20,000匹(かえるが にまんびき)
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蛙が100,000匹(かえるが じゅうまんびき)
蛙が100,001匹(かえるが じゅうまん いちひき)
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蛙が1000,000匹（かえるが ひゃくまんびき）
蛙が1000,001匹（かえるが ひゃくまんいちひき）
The next morning, her mother asked her, “Did you sleep well?” Her daughter answered, “I couldn't sleep. There were too many frogs in my head.” Her mother asked, “Why did you count frogs?” The girl said, “Because our new teacher taught us how to count frogs in Japanese yesterday.” At eight o’clock in the morning, the principal of the girl’s school got a complaint from her mother.
2. Counting Crows
In the evening, the girl's mother gave her some new advice, “If you can't sleep, count something until you can but don't count frogs.” As soon as the girl went to bed, she began counting something.
Daughter:
烏が1羽 (からすが いちわ) Here is a crow
烏が２羽(からすが にわ) Here are two crows.
烏が３羽(からすが さんば)Here are three crows.
烏が４羽(からすが よんわ)
烏が５羽(からすが ごわ)
烏が６羽(からすが ろっぱ)
烏が７羽(からすが ななわ)
烏が８羽(からすが はちわ)
烏が９羽(からすが きゅうわ)
烏が10羽(からすが じっぱ / じゅっぱ）
烏が11羽(からすがじゅういっぱ)
烏が12羽(からすが じゅうにわ)
烏が13羽(からすが じゅうさんば)
烏が14羽(からすが じゅうよんわ)
烏が15羽(からすが じゅうごわ)
烏が16羽(からすが じゅうろっぱ)
烏が17羽(からすが じゅうななわ)
烏が18羽(からすが じゅうはちわ)
烏が19羽(からすが じゅうきゅうわ)
烏が20羽(からすが にじっぱ)
烏が21羽(からすが にじゅういっぱ)
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烏が100羽(からすが ひゃっぱ)
烏が101羽(からすが ひゃくいちわ)
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烏が1,000羽(からすが せんば)
烏が1,001羽(からすが せんいちわ)
烏が2,000羽(からすが にせんば)
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烏が10,000羽(からすが いちまんば)
烏が10,001羽(からすが いちまんいちわ)
烏が20,000羽(からすが にまんば)
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烏が100,000羽(からすが じゅうまんば)
烏が100,001羽(からすが じゅうまん いちわ)
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烏が1,000,000羽 (からすがひゃくまんわ)
烏が1,000,001羽 (からすがひゃくまんいちわ)
The next morning, her mother asked her, “Did you sleep well?” Her daughter answered, “I couldn't sleep. There were too many crows in my head.” Her mother asked, “Why did you count crows?” The girl said, “Because our teacher taught us how to count crows in Japanese yesterday.”
When you take an exam in Japanese, you should follow your textbook. However, in daily use, don't worry too much about how to say '羽'. We, as Japanese native speakers, actually don't care about it.
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Suggestions from one of my language partners. (Thanks, Jo!):
The Sleepless Night
Just for fun, here are some more suggestions for the title.
Frog Dreams
Counting Frogs
Frogs on the brain
A Sleepless Night with the Frogs
Insomnolent Frogs
Sorry about the last suggestion I found this word on the internet. It means to suffer from insomnia, I thought it sounded cool.
The phrase “8 o’clock” can be written in both words or figures when used casually. I think, when you are writing more formally, it’s recommended for numbers from one to a hundred to be written out in full, but I think most of the time it depends on what style you are writing in and personal preference.
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