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Authors: Ryûnosuke Akutagawa
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I glanced round and saw that having greatly quickened our pace, we were now south of Ry Å goku Bridge, approaching Shubi-no-matsu , its trunk and branches appearing in the night to be of an even deeper ebony.
âEager to broach the subject of Madame Katsumi, I quickly pursued Miuraâs comment:
ââIf you yourself are so attached to older ways, what will you do about your modern wife?â I asked, testing the waters.
âFor several moments, as though he had not heard my question, Miura gazed at the still moonless sky above Otakegura. Finally, hefixed his eyes on me and said softly but firmly: âI shall do nothing. As of about a week ago, we are divorced.â
âQuite taken aback by this unexpected reply, I gripped the gunwales of the boat.
ââSo you knew?â I asked in a strained voice.
âMiura continued with the same air of calm as before:
ââSo you knew it all too?â he asked, throwing the question back at me, as though by way of confirmation.
ââPerhaps not everything. I did hear about her ties to Madame Narayama.â
ââAnd about my wife and her cousin?â
ââI had some glimmerings of it . . .â
ââThen surely I need say no more.â
ââBut, but . . . When did you become aware of the relationship?â
ââBetween my wife and her cousin? About three months after our marriageâjust before commissioning her portrait with the painter Gozeta H Å bai.â
âThis response too, as you can well imagine, was quite astonishing.
ââBut why, until now, have you tacitly accepted the outrage of it all?â
ââI did not accept it tacitlyâbut rather quite openly.â
âFor the third time, I was dumbfounded. For several moments I merely stared at him in stupefaction.
ââMind you,â he said without the slightest trace of insistence, âthe relationship of which I approved between my wife and her cousin was the one that I had painted in my imagination, not the one that presently exists. You will remember that I insisted on a marriage based on amour . This was not to satisfy my own egotism; it was rather the consequence of my having placed love above all things. Thus, whenonce we were married I came to understand that the bonds of affection between us were less than genuine, I regretted my precipitancy and at the same time felt pity for her, now that she was obliged to live with me. As you know, I have never been in the best of health. Moreover, despite my efforts to love my wife, she has been unable to love meâor perhaps it may be that my notion of amour was from the beginning such a paltry thing that it could never have inspired passion in her. If therefore there was such true affection between my wife and her cousin, who have known one another since childhood, I would gallantly sacrifice myself to their happiness. Not to do so would be, in effect, to renounce the supremacy of amour . It was for that eventuality that, in fact, I intended the portrait of my wifeâto hang in my study as a replacement for her.â
âAs he spoke, Miura again looked to the sky above the opposite bank. It was as though a black curtain had fallen from the sky, enveloping the towering chinquapins of the Matsuura estate in gloom, with no sign of a cloud from out of which the moon might appear. I lit a cigarette and urged him to continue: âAnd then?â
ââI learned soon thereafter that the love between my wife and her cousin was something impure. To put it bluntly, I discovered that he also had a liaison with Madame Narayama. I am sure that you will not have any particular desire to know how I acquired such knowledge, and I myself do not wish to elaborate. Suffice it to say that it was by pure chance that I found them together.â
âI let the ashes of my cigarette fall over the gunwale as I vividly recalled the memory of the
âEager to broach the subject of Madame Katsumi, I quickly pursued Miuraâs comment:
ââIf you yourself are so attached to older ways, what will you do about your modern wife?â I asked, testing the waters.
âFor several moments, as though he had not heard my question, Miura gazed at the still moonless sky above Otakegura. Finally, hefixed his eyes on me and said softly but firmly: âI shall do nothing. As of about a week ago, we are divorced.â
âQuite taken aback by this unexpected reply, I gripped the gunwales of the boat.
ââSo you knew?â I asked in a strained voice.
âMiura continued with the same air of calm as before:
ââSo you knew it all too?â he asked, throwing the question back at me, as though by way of confirmation.
ââPerhaps not everything. I did hear about her ties to Madame Narayama.â
ââAnd about my wife and her cousin?â
ââI had some glimmerings of it . . .â
ââThen surely I need say no more.â
ââBut, but . . . When did you become aware of the relationship?â
ââBetween my wife and her cousin? About three months after our marriageâjust before commissioning her portrait with the painter Gozeta H Å bai.â
âThis response too, as you can well imagine, was quite astonishing.
ââBut why, until now, have you tacitly accepted the outrage of it all?â
ââI did not accept it tacitlyâbut rather quite openly.â
âFor the third time, I was dumbfounded. For several moments I merely stared at him in stupefaction.
ââMind you,â he said without the slightest trace of insistence, âthe relationship of which I approved between my wife and her cousin was the one that I had painted in my imagination, not the one that presently exists. You will remember that I insisted on a marriage based on amour . This was not to satisfy my own egotism; it was rather the consequence of my having placed love above all things. Thus, whenonce we were married I came to understand that the bonds of affection between us were less than genuine, I regretted my precipitancy and at the same time felt pity for her, now that she was obliged to live with me. As you know, I have never been in the best of health. Moreover, despite my efforts to love my wife, she has been unable to love meâor perhaps it may be that my notion of amour was from the beginning such a paltry thing that it could never have inspired passion in her. If therefore there was such true affection between my wife and her cousin, who have known one another since childhood, I would gallantly sacrifice myself to their happiness. Not to do so would be, in effect, to renounce the supremacy of amour . It was for that eventuality that, in fact, I intended the portrait of my wifeâto hang in my study as a replacement for her.â
âAs he spoke, Miura again looked to the sky above the opposite bank. It was as though a black curtain had fallen from the sky, enveloping the towering chinquapins of the Matsuura estate in gloom, with no sign of a cloud from out of which the moon might appear. I lit a cigarette and urged him to continue: âAnd then?â
ââI learned soon thereafter that the love between my wife and her cousin was something impure. To put it bluntly, I discovered that he also had a liaison with Madame Narayama. I am sure that you will not have any particular desire to know how I acquired such knowledge, and I myself do not wish to elaborate. Suffice it to say that it was by pure chance that I found them together.â
âI let the ashes of my cigarette fall over the gunwale as I vividly recalled the memory of the
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