Summary of some novels by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
I try to summarize some Japanese novels.
Today I introduce some novels by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa.
I like his works.
He had dreamed of eating imogayu (yam gruel) as much as he wanted.
Because he could eat it only a little bit once a year.
A provincial lord named Toshihito Fujiwara knew his dream.
Toshihito felt sorry for Goi, so he took Goi to his land, Tsuruga in Hokuriku region, and prepared imogayu very much for Goi.
But for some reason Goi lost his appetite in front of the big pot filled with imogayu.
Buddha in paradise looked him suffering in the hell.
Buddha remembered that he had stopped killing a spider, so Buddha lowered the spider's thread from the paradise to the hell.
Kandata climbed higher and higher.
When he looked many other people also climbing the thread behind him, he shouted.
"This thread is mine, get off!"
At this moment the thread broke, and all people including Kandata fell back to the hell.
He had been rich, but he wasted all his money, so he was poor.
He got to know a hermit named Tetsukanshi, and he could be rich thanks to the power of Tetsukanshi.
But he wasted all his money again, so he was poor again.
After they repeated same thing a few times, Toshishun realized that Tetsukanshi was a hermit.
He became a disciple of the hermit.
The hermit ordered him not to speak whatever happened.
He overcame various trials, but last test was very hard, so he couldn't stop speaking.
One day he looked a old woman stealing hair from a corpse in Rashōmon.
He listened to her excuse and couldn't stop his mind changing drastically.
- To read this article in Japanese
Today I introduce some novels by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa.
Yam Gruel (芋粥, Imogayu)
Once upon a time, there lived a boring man. he was a official (五位, Goi).He had dreamed of eating imogayu (yam gruel) as much as he wanted.
Because he could eat it only a little bit once a year.
A provincial lord named Toshihito Fujiwara knew his dream.
Toshihito felt sorry for Goi, so he took Goi to his land, Tsuruga in Hokuriku region, and prepared imogayu very much for Goi.
But for some reason Goi lost his appetite in front of the big pot filled with imogayu.
The Spider's Thread (蜘蛛の糸, Kumo no Ito)
A bad guy named Kandata fell into hell.Buddha in paradise looked him suffering in the hell.
Buddha remembered that he had stopped killing a spider, so Buddha lowered the spider's thread from the paradise to the hell.
Kandata climbed higher and higher.
When he looked many other people also climbing the thread behind him, he shouted.
"This thread is mine, get off!"
At this moment the thread broke, and all people including Kandata fell back to the hell.
Tu Tze-chun (杜子春, Toshishun)
Once upon a time, there lived a young man named Toshishun.He had been rich, but he wasted all his money, so he was poor.
He got to know a hermit named Tetsukanshi, and he could be rich thanks to the power of Tetsukanshi.
But he wasted all his money again, so he was poor again.
After they repeated same thing a few times, Toshishun realized that Tetsukanshi was a hermit.
He became a disciple of the hermit.
The hermit ordered him not to speak whatever happened.
He overcame various trials, but last test was very hard, so he couldn't stop speaking.
Rashōmon (羅生門)
Once upon a time, there lived a man.One day he looked a old woman stealing hair from a corpse in Rashōmon.
He listened to her excuse and couldn't stop his mind changing drastically.
- To read this article in Japanese