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Sack of Chinese RiceAuthor: Yumeno Kyūsaku
| Original Title | 支那米の袋 |
|---|---|
| Author | 夢野 久作 |
| Genre | Modern Short Fiction |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | In a dimly lit Vladivostok bar, a drunken woman leans close to a Japanese soldier, her words slurred yet laced with menace. She teases a harrowing tale of obsession and betrayal, her laughter sharp as the dagger she brandishes. Once a baron’s daughter turned dancer, she recounts her entanglement with Young, an enigmatic American naval officer who seduced her with stories of macabre "love games" played by America’s elite—rituals blending cruelty and desire. Their affair spiraled into a nightmarish scheme: smuggled aboard his warship inside a rice sack, she discovered herself one of many women trafficked under false promises. Betrayed and thrown into the sea, she alone survived, haunted by trauma and Young’s ghostly voice. Now, fixated on her listener’s resemblance to him, she oscillates between vulnerability and violence, insisting tonight’s intoxication will end in a "lovers’ suicide." Her fragmented confession—equal parts confession and threat—weaves delirium and dread, leaving the soldier (and reader) questioning what is truth, madness, or the final act of a shattered soul. |
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