Pathway to Japanese Literature
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SnakeAuthor: Mori Ōgai
| Original Title | 蛇 |
|---|---|
| Author | 森 鴎外 |
| Genre | Popular Fiction |
| Author Type | Male Author |
| Summary | On a sweltering summer night in rural Japan, a weary traveler finds himself lodged in an ancient, labyrinthine estate shrouded in unease. Tormented by mosquitoes and sake-induced regret, he observes the decaying grandeur of the Hozumi household—a once-prestigious family now haunted by silence and secrets. The air thrums with the ceaseless murmurs of an unseen woman, her frantic pleas echoing through paper-thin walls like a ghostly refrain. \nThe elderly steward, Seikichi, unravels a tragic tapestry: generations of stifled voices, a neurotic heir consumed by indecision, and a beautiful bride whose contempt for tradition fractured the family’s fragile harmony. Whispers of madness coil through the narrative like the enigmatic serpent lurking in the ancestral altar—a creature both mundane and uncanny, blamed for the young mistress’s descent into delirium. \nAs shadows lengthen and incense smoke twists into phantom shapes, the traveler becomes an unwitting confessor to buried resentments and philosophical despair. What began as a restless night blooms into a meditation on duty, sanity, and the venomous weight of unspoken truths. The house holds its breath, waiting—for absolution, for collapse, or perhaps for the snake to strike again. |
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