Pathway to Japanese Literature
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Spring Comes by CarriageAuthor: Yokomitsu Riichi
| Original Title | 春は馬車に乗って |
|---|---|
| Author | 横光 利一 |
| Genre | Modern Short Fiction |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | In a windswept seaside home, a husband tends to his wife, whose body wastes away from illness. Their days are marked by brittle exchanges—she fixates on shimmering pine needles and mundane yearnings like laundry; he watches a sluggish turtle in the garden pond, its movements mirroring their stagnant lives. Winter’s chill seeps into their isolation as he scavenges for exotic bird organs to tempt her fading appetite, each grotesque offering a twisted act of devotion. Their conversations spiral into accusations and fragile reconciliations, love and resentment tangled like the withered dahlia stems outside. She clings to cage-like theories of abandonment, while he grapples with exhaustion, his work neglected, his spirit eroded by her relentless suffering. When spring arrives by carriage—a bouquet of sweet peas—it briefly pierces the gloom, cradled in her skeletal hands like a stolen moment of grace. Yet even beauty here is fleeting, a fragile reprieve before the encroaching tide of loss. |
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