One day twilight, a servant was waiting for the rain to stop under Rashōmon. There was no one else under the wide gate except this man. There was just a katydid on a large pillar which was painted red but peeling off in some places. Rashōmon was located on Suzaku Avenue. So there must be two or three other people there, including women and men who weared their hats, to wait for the rain to stop. But besides this man, there was no one else. Because for the past two or three years, Kyoto had had a succession of disasters, such as earthquakes, gusts, fires and famines. Therefore, the destruction of the city was not the same as in the past. According to the old documents, Buddha statues and Buddhist instruments were smashed and the wood with vermilion or gold and silver leaf was piled up on the streets and sold as firewood. Because the things were like this inside the city, there was no one to repair Rashōmon and no one to look after it. Then, making good use of the desola...