Note: This story was first published in July 1917 in the children's magazine 赤い鳥, Akai tori, "Red Bird", specialized in fairy tales and nursery rhymes. The original Japanese title of this story, 蜘蛛の糸, is transcribed as Kumo no ito in the Revised Hepburn notation, and means literally "spider silk". It is composed of 糸, ito, "thread", の, no, "of" and 蜘蛛, kumo, "spider".