In a Grove
藪の中
芥川竜之介 · Japanese
A man lies dead in a bamboo grove. Seven people describe what happened, including the bandit who confesses to the killing, the wife, and the dead…
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Pagera Editor's Note
A man lies dead in a bamboo grove. Seven people describe what happened, including the bandit who confesses to the killing, the wife, and the dead samurai speaking through a medium. Each account is coherent, each is self-serving, and no two agree. Akutagawa supplies no narrator to adjudicate. The story gave Kurosawa's Rashomon its structure and gave the language a name for the problem it poses.
Author
芥川竜之介
Akutagawa Ryūnosuke (1892-1927) was a Japanese writer and the master of the modern short story in Japanese. Rashōmon, In a Grove and The Spider's Thread rework old tales into studies of self-interest and unreliable truth. He took his own life at thirty-five, citing a vague unease about the future, and Japan's foremost literary prize carries his name.
In a Grove
藪の中
芥川竜之介 · Japanese
A man lies dead in a bamboo grove. Seven people describe what happened, including the bandit who confesses to the killing, the wife, and the dead…
First paragraph preview
Original (Japanese)
さようでございます。あの死骸を見つけたのは、わたしに違いございません。わたしは今朝いつもの通り、裏山の杉を伐りに参りました。すると山陰の藪の中に、あの死骸があったのでございます。あった処でございますか？ それは山科の駅路からは、四五町ほど隔たって居りましょう。竹の中に痩せ杉の交った、人気のない所でございます。 死骸は縹の水干に、都風のさび烏帽子をかぶったまま、仰向けに倒れて居りました。何しろ一刀とは申すものの、胸もとの突き傷でございますから、死骸のまわりの竹の落葉は、蘇芳に滲みたようでございます。いえ、血はもう流れては居りません。傷口も乾いて居ったようでございます。おまけにそこには、馬蠅が一匹、わたしの足音も聞えないように、べったり食いついて居りましたっけ。 太刀か何かは見えなかったか？ いえ、何もございません。ただその側の杉の根がたに、縄が一筋落ちて居りました。それから、――そうそう、縄のほかにも櫛が一つございました。死骸のまわりにあったものは、この二つぎりでございます。が、草や竹の落葉は、一面に踏み荒されて居りましたから、きっとあの男は殺される前に、よほど手痛い働きでも致したのに違
English translation (Pagera AI)
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Pagera Editor's Note
A man lies dead in a bamboo grove. Seven people describe what happened, including the bandit who confesses to the killing, the wife, and the dead samurai speaking through a medium. Each account is coherent, each is self-serving, and no two agree. Akutagawa supplies no narrator to adjudicate. The story gave Kurosawa's Rashomon its structure and gave the language a name for the problem it poses.
Author
芥川竜之介
Akutagawa Ryūnosuke (1892-1927) was a Japanese writer and the master of the modern short story in Japanese. Rashōmon, In a Grove and The Spider's Thread rework old tales into studies of self-interest and unreliable truth. He took his own life at thirty-five, citing a vague unease about the future, and Japan's foremost literary prize carries his name.
Translation status
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