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Horse LegsAuthor: Akutagawa Ryūnosuke
| Original Title | 馬の脚 |
|---|---|
| Author | 芥川 竜之介 |
| Genre | Modern Short Fiction |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | In early 20th-century Beijing, Shinobu Hansaburō leads an unremarkable life as a Mitsubishi employee until a sudden death upends everything. After collapsing at his desk, he awakens in a bureaucratic afterlife office where Chinese officials mistakenly replace his decaying legs with those of a horse. Revived inexplicably, Shinobu returns to his wife Tsuneko, now burdened by grotesque equine limbs hidden beneath boots and trousers. His diary chronicles a desperate double life: battling fleas, concealing odors, and suppressing involuntary kicks that threaten his job and marriage. As whispers of madness swirl, Shinobu’s control unravels during a violent sandstorm, his Mongol-bred legs rebelling against urban constraints. When he vanishes into the tempest, Tsuneko alone glimpses the truth—a spectral figure with hooves—while society dismisses it as delusion. Blending dark humor and existential dread, this surreal tale probes identity and conformity through a man ensnared between humanity and animal instinct, leaving readers to ponder where the line between reality and madness truly lies. |
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