InaGrove by Ryunosuke Akutagawa Translated by Takashi Kojima The Testimony of a Woodcutter Questioned by a High Police Commissioner ‘Yes, sir. Certainly, it was | who found the body. This morning, as usual, | went to cut my daily quota of cedars, when | found the body ina grove in ahollowin the mountains. The exact location? About 150 meters ff theYamashina stage oad. I's an out- ofthe-way grove of bamboo and cedars. The body was ying flat on its bck dressed ina bluish ik kimono and awrinkled head dres ofthe Kyoto style. A single swordstroke had pierced the breast. Te fallen bamboo-blades around it were stained with bloody blossoms, No, the blood was no longer running The wound had dried up, believe. And also, a gad-ly was tuck fast there, hardly noticing myfootsteps. You ask me fl saw a sword or any such thing? No, nothing, si. found only a rope at the root of a cedar nearby. And .. .well, in addition to a rope, | found a comb. That was all. Apparently he musthave made a battle oft before he was murdered, because the gras and fallen bamboo-bades had been trampled down all around, "A horse ‘was neaby?" No, si shard enough fora man to enter lt alone a hose The Testimony of a Traveling Buddhist Priest Questioned by a High Police Com ner Thetime? Certainly, it was about noon yesterday, si. The unfortunate man was onthe road from Sekyama to Yamashina. He ‘was walking towardSekiyama with awoman accompanying him on horseback, who Ihave sinceleamed was his wife A scar hanging from her head id her face from view. All saw was the color of her clothes, ilacoloredsut. Her hose was asorel with fine mane Te ady’s height? Oh, about four feet ive inches, Since am a Buddhist pres, ook tle notice about her details. Well, theman was armed with a sword as well as a bow and arrows. And | remember that he carried some twenty odd arrows in his quiver Little did | expect that he would meet such afte. Truly humanlife is as evanescent asthe morning dew or a flash of lightning, My words areinadequate to express my sympathy for im, The Testimony of a Policeman Questioned by a High Police Commissioner Theman that arested? Heisa notorious bigand called Tajomaru, When arrested him, he had fallen off hishorse. He was groaning onthe bridge at Awataguchi The time? It wasin the early hours f last night. For the record, | might ay that the other day | tried to arrest him, but unfortunately heescaped. He was wearing a dark blue silk kimono anda large plain sword, ‘And, as yousee, he gota bow and arrows somewhere. You say that ths bowand thse arrows look ike the ones owned by the dead man? Then Tajomarumust be the murderer. The bow wound with leather strips, the black lacquered quiver, the seventeen arrows with hawk feathers—these were alin his possession believe. Yes, Si, the hoses, as you say, asorel with afine mane. little beyond the stone bridge I found te horse grazing by theroadside, with his bng rein dangling, Surely there is some providence in hishaving been thrown bythe hrs. fal the robbers prowling around Kyoto, this Tajomaru has given ‘the mostgief tothe women in town, Last autumn a wife who came to the mountain back ofthe Pindora ofthe Tribe Temple, presumably to pay a visit, was murdered, along with a girl. It has been suspected that it was his doing. If this criminal murdered ‘the man, you cannot tell what he may have done withthe man's wife, May it please your honor to look into this problem as wel lofThe Testimony of an Old Woman Questioned by a High Police Com ioner Yes sir, that corpses the man who married my daughter He doesnot come fom Kyoto, He was asamuratin the town of Kokufuin the province of Wakasa is name was Kanazawa no Takehiko, and his age was twenty-six, He was ofa gentle isposition, so lam sure he did nothing to provoke theanger of others. My daughter? Her name is Masago, and her age is nineteen. She is a spirited, fun-loving girl, but | am sure she has never known any man except Takehiko. She has a small, oval, datk-complecface witha mate at thecorner f her left eye. Yesterday Takehiko left for Wakasa with my daughter. What bad luckitisthat things should have come to such asad end! What has become of my daughter? lam resigned to giving up my son- in-law as los, but the fate of my daughter worries me sick For heaven's sake leave no stone unturned tofind her. hate that robber Tajomaru, or whatever his names Not only my or-in-aw, but my daughter... (He later words were drowned in tears) Tojomaru’s Confession Ukilled him, but nother Where's she gone? cant tll. Oh, wait a minute. No torture can make me confes what | dont know. Now things have cometo such a head, | won't keep anything from you. Yesterday a little past noon | met that couple. Just then 2a puff of wind blew, and raised her hanging scart, so that | aught a glimpse of her face. Instantyit was again covered fam my view. That may have ben ane reason; shelooked ike a Bodhisattva, At that moment | made up my mind to capture her even if Uhad to kl her man, Why? To me kiln isn'ta matter ofsuch great consequence as you might think. When a woman is captured, her man has tobe kiled anyway. Inkling, | se the word | wearat my side. Am the only one who kilspeople? You, you don't use your swords. You kill people with your power, with your money. Sometimes you kill them on the pretext of ‘working frtheir good, I's tru they dont bleed, They arin the best ofhealth, but all thesame you've killed them. Isard to say who isa greater sinner, you or me (An ironical smi.) Butit would be good il could capture a woman without kiling her san, So, made up my mind to capture her and do my best not to kill him, Buti’ sout ofthe question onthe Yamashina stage road, So managed tolurethe couple into the mountains. t was quite eas. I became thei traveling companion, and told them there was an old mound inthe mountain over there, and that had dug it open andfound many mirrors and swords. ‘went on to tell them I'd buried the thingsin a grove behind the mountain, and that I'd like to sell them at a low price toanyone io would are to have them, Then... yousee, n't greed terrible? He was beginning to be movedby my tak before he knew it. Inless than half an hour they were driving their horse toward the mountain with me. When he came in front ofthe grove, | told them tat the treasures wereburied int, and | asked them to come and ee. The man had no objection—he was blinded by greed. The woman sad she would wait on horseback twas natural forher to say so atthe sight fa thick grove. To tell you ‘thetruth, my plan worked just as I wished, so | went into the grove with him, leaving her behind alone. The grove is only bamboo for some distance. About ity yards ahead theresa rather open clump of cedars. Itwas.a convenient spot for my purpose. Pushing my way through the grove, told him a plausible ie that the treasures were buried under the cedar. When | {ald him this, he pushed hislaborious way toward the lender cedar visible through the grav. After awhile the bamboo thinned out, and we came to where a number of cedars grew in a row. As soon as we got there, seized him from behind, Becausehe was trained, sword-bearing warrior he was quite strong, buthe wastaken by surprise, o there was no help for him. | soon tied him up to the root of a cedar. Where did | get a rope? Thank heaven, being a robber, | had arope with me, since {might have to scalea wal at any moment. Of courseit was easy to stop him frm calling out by gagging his mouth wth fallen bamboo leaves ‘When disposed ot him, | went to his woman and asked her to come and see him, because he seemed to have been suddenly {taken sick. I's needs to say that this plan also worked well The woman, he sedge hat off, came intothe depths ofthe grave, wiere | ed herby the hand. The instant she aught sight of her husband, she drew a small word. 've never een a woman of such violent temper. Id been off guard, 'd have got a thrust in my side. dodged, but she Kept on slashing at me. She might have wounded me deeply r killed me, But!'m Tajomaru. managed t strike down her small sword without drawing my own, The most spirited woman is defenseless without a weapon. Atleast | could satisfy my desire for her without taking her 2of4husband's life. Yes. .. without taking his life, | had no wish to kill him. | was about to run away from the grove, leaving the ‘woman behind tears, when she antically cng to my arm, In broken fragments of words, she asked thateither her husband orl de, She said it was more trying than death tohaveher shame known to two men. She gasped out that she wanted to be ‘the wife of whichever survived. Then a furious dese to kl him seized me, (Gloomy excitement JTeling you in this way, no doubt seem a cueler man than you. But thats because you didnt see her face Especially her burning eyes at that moment. As | saw her eye to eye, | wanted to make her my wife even if | wereto be struck by lightning. | wanted to make her my wife. this single desiefiled my mind, This was not ony lst as you might think. At that time if dhad no other desire than lust, surely not have minded knocking her downand running away. Then| wouldn't have stained my sword with his blood. But the moment | gazed at her face inthe dark grove, | decided nat toleavethere without kiling him, But didn't ike to resort to unfair means t kil him. l untied him and told him to cross swords wth me. (The rope that was found at the root ofthe cedar isthe rope | dropped at the time.) Furious with anger, he drew his thick sword. And quick as thought, he sprang at me ferociously, withoutspeaking a word. | needn't tll you how our fight ued out, The wenty-thir stroke... please remember this. m impressed with this fact stil. Nobody under the sun has ever clashed swords with me twenty strokes. (A cheerful smile.) ‘When he fell tumed toward her, lowering my blood-stained sword, Bu tomy great astonishment he was gone. | wondered ‘to where she had run away.l looked for her inthe clump of cedars. listened, but heard only a groaning sound from the throat ‘of the dying man. As soon as we started to cross swords, she may have run awvay through the roveto cal for help. When thought ofthat, decided t was a matte of lif and death to me So, robbing him of his sword, and bow and arrows, an out to the mountain road, There | found her horse stil grazing quietly. would be a mere waste of words to tell you the later details, but before | entered town | had already parted with the sword, Thats all my confession. know that my head willbe hung in chains anyway, so put me down fr themaximum penalty. (A defiant attitude.) The Confession ofa Woman Who Has Come to the Shimizu Temple That man in the luesik kimono after forcing me to yield tim, laughed mockingly ashe looked at my bound husband, How horfed my husband must have been! But no matter how hard he struggled n agony the rope cutinto him all the more tightly. In spite of myself ran stumblingly toward his ide. Or rather | tried to run toward him, but the man instantly knocked imedawn, Just at that moment| saw an indescribable ight in my husband's ees Something beyond expression... his eyes make me shudder even now. Thatinstantaneous look of my husband, who couldn't speak a wor, tld me llhis hear, The flash n his eyes was nether anger nor sorrow... only acoldlght, look of loathing, More struckby the lookin hs eyes than by ‘theblow ofthe thie, called out inspite of myself and fel unconscious. In the course of time | came to, and found thatthe man in blue silk was gone. | saw only my husband still bound to the root of the cedar. | raised myself from the bamboo-blades with ificuty, and looked int his face; butthe expression in his eyes was just the same as before. Beneath the cold contempt in his eyes, there was hatred. Shame, git, and anger... | don't know how to express my heart at time, Reeling to my fet, ‘went upto my husband "Takei," | said to him, “since things have comet this pass, | cannot lve with you. 'm determined to die... butyou must die, ‘too. You saw my shame, I can't leave you alive as you are,” This wasall | could say. Still he went on gazing at me with loathing andcontempt. My heartbreaking, looked for his sword, It must ave been taken by the robber. Neither hs sword nor his bow and arrows were to beseen in the grove. But fortunately my small swordwas ying at my feet. Raising it overhead, once more | ‘aid, "Now give me your life. fllow you right away.” When he heard these words, he moved hislips with dificult. Since his mouth was stufed with leaves, of couse his voice could not be heard tall. But ata glance | understood his words. Despsing me, his look said only, "Kill me.” Neither conscious nor unconscious, | stabbed the small sword through the lilac-colored kimono into his breast. Again at this time | must have fainted, By the time | managed taook up hehad already breathed hs last—stil in bonds. streak of sinking sunlightsreamed though the clump of cedars and bamboos, and shone on his paefac. Gulping «dawn my sos, luntied the ope fom his dead body. And. ..and what has become of me since Ihave no moe strength tote you. Anyway Ihadnt the strength tod. stabbed my own throat with thesmallsword, threw myself into a pond atthe fot 30f4‘of the mountain, and I tried tokill mysefin many ways. Unable to end my life, lam sil living in dishonor. (A lonely smile.) Worthless as | am, | must have been forsaken even by the most merciful Kwannon. [killed my own husband. | wasviolated by the robber. Whatever can | do? Whatever can |... (Gradually, violent sobbing.) The Story of the Murdered Man, as Told Through a Medium ‘Mter violating my wife the robber, sitting there, began to speak comfortingwords ther. Ofcourse couldn't speak. My whole body was tied fast tothe root ofa cedar. But meanwhile winked at her many times, as muchas tosay "Don't believe the robber." wanted to convey some such meaning to her. But my we siting dejected onthe bamboo leaves, was looking hard at her lap. To all appearance, she was listening tc sords. | was agonize by jealousy. In the meantime the robber went on with is cever tak, romne subject to another. The robber finally made hs old brazen proposal "Once your virtue is stained, you won't get along well wit your husband, sowon't you be my wife instead? I's my love faryou that made me be violent toward you.'Whil the criminal talked, my wife raised her face as ifn a trance, She hadnever looked so beautiful a at that moment. What dd my beautiful wife say in answer to him while | was siting bound there? | am lost inspace, but Ihave never thought ofher answer without burning with anger and jealousy. Truly she aid, "Then take me away with you wherever you go. "This is not the whole of her sin. If that were all, | would not be tormented somuch in the dark. When she was going out of the ‘grove asifina dream, herhand in the robbers, she suddenly tured pale, and pointed at meted to theroot ofthe cedar, and said, Kill him! | annot marty you as long as helives." “Kl him" she ried many times, asf she hadgone crazy. Even now these words threaten to blow me headlong into the bottomless abys of darkness Has such hateful thing come out ofa human mouth evr before?Have such cursed words ever struc a human ear even ance? Even oncesuch a... (A sudden a of scom.) ‘these words the robber himself turned pale. "il him,” she ced, clinging to his arms, Looking hard at her, heanswered neither yes nor no... buthardly had thought about his answer befor she had been knocked down into the bamboo leaves (Again a cry of scorn.) Quietly folding his arms he looked at me and sai, "What wll youdo with her? Kill hero save her? You have only to nod, ill he?” Fr these words alone | would lke to pardon hs crime. While hesitated, she shreked and ran nto ‘the depths of the grove. The robber instantly snatched at her, but he failed even to grasp her sleeve. After she ran away, he took up my sword, and my bow and arrows. With asingle stroke he cut one of my bonds. remember his mumbling, "My fateis next.” Then he disappeared from the grove. All was silent after that. No, heard someone crying, Untying the rest of my bonds, Ulistened careful, and noticed that twas my own crying (Long sence.) raised my exhausted body from the fat ofthe ‘cedar. Infont of me there was shining the small sword which my wife had dropped tok it up and stabbed it into my breast. ‘bloody lump rose to my mouth, but didn't fel any pain. When my breast grew cold, everything was as silent asthe dead in their graves. What profound silence! Nota single bird-note was headin thesky ver tis grave inthe hollow ofthe mountain. ‘Only lonely ightlingered onthe cedars and mountains. By and by te light gradually gre fainter, til the cedars and bamboo ‘ere lst to view. Lying there, | wasenvelopedin deep silence. Then someone crept upto me. tried to see who it was. But darkness had already been gathering round me, Someone... that someone drew the smal sword softly out of my breast nits invisible hand, Atte same time oncemore blood flowed into my mouth, And once and for alll sank dawn into the darkness af space Aof4