Akutagawa Autumn Mountian

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A U T U M N M O U N T A I N S 337

very cold one, these dis t r ic ts were

prac t ica l ly des t i tu te of l ight and fue l ,

as there a re no loca l fores t s . T he Ger -

man colonis t s opera te some 30,000

looms in their own hom es. In s pi te of

th e ma nifold dif f icul t ies th ey are ex-

per iencing, the people here seem to us

marvelous ly prosperous in compar i son

wi th what we had seen in Russ ia

here tofore .

[Japan Advertiser (American Dai ly) ,

December

2k 1920]

A U T U M N M O U N T A I N S

B Y R Y U N O S U K E A K U T A G A W A

[Mr. Aku tagaw a is one of th e leading youn g

writers of fict ion in Japan and his work is ad-

mired for the combination of cynicism and ro-

ma nticism which connoisseurs find in i t . Th e

following shor t s tory is f rom th e New Year num -

ber of Kaizo (Reconst ruc t ion) . ]

S P E A K I N G

of H u an g Ta i -ch ih , ' sa id

W a n g T a n - k u , o n e a u t u m n e v e n i n g t o

h i s hos t , Yun Nan- t i en , ' r eminds me

of h is p i c tu r e , A u tu m n M ou nta in s .

Have you ever seen i t ? '

' N o t y e t . A n d y o u ? '

T h e good o ld H u an g Tai -chih , was

cer tainly one of the divine geniuses of

paint ing in the per iod of Yuan and his

ce lebr i ty equaled tha t of Mei Taojen

a n d H u a n g h a o S h a n g c h i a o . Y u n N a n -

t ien fel t as i f the masterpieces drawn

by tha t pa in ter loomed up before h i s

eyes.

'Wel l , I may have seen i t and may

no t . I t is one of th e s t r an ge e xper i -

ences of my life. '

'M a y have seen i t or . . . ' r ep ea ted

his host glancing at the vis i tor wi th

dubious eyes . 'You mean, then , i t was

a facs imi le which you sa w ? '

'Not a facs imi le , but the or ig ina l , I

shou ld say . ' W ang T an -k u smi led

though t fu l l y , d r i nk ing h i s t ea . 'T h e

origin al an d no t I alo ne saw it ,

but our honorable Yenko and Hsiangpi

ha ve also seen i t . If you hav e no ob-

jection, I will tel l you how I came to

see this famous picture. '

Yu n N an -t ien , poking the f i re in th e

brazier, l istened to the art ist .

' I t was in the days when our hon-

orab le Ssupo wa s st i l l l iving. One da y

he was talking about pictures wi th the

good old Yenko, when suddenly he

asked the old man if he had seen the

pic ture A utu m n M oun ta ins . As you

know, old Yenko is a student of the

school of Huang Tai-chih, and we may

presume that he s tudied every picture

drawn by H ua ng . B ut cur ious to say ,

he never saw the p ic ture Autumn

Mounta ins .

' " N o . Bu t I never heard tha t there

was any such a p ic ture by Huang." As

he replied, we are told, he felt ashamed

of his ignorance.

' "Then you must see i t a t the

earliest possible op po rtu nit y. I t is a

s t r iking example of the master ' s hand,

far surpassing ei ther his Summer

M ou ntain s or Floa t ing M ist . One of

the dis t inguished masterpieces of the

good old Tai-chih, I suppose."

' "One of the d i s t inguished mas ter -

pieces? Oh , ho w I wo uld like to see it

soon W ho is the presen t own er?"

' " I t i s the prope r ty of Chan g a t

Junc how . I f you ha pp en to pass by

the Chinshangssu temple , you might

call on him. I will give you a n in tro-

duct ion ."

'The good o ld Yenko s ta r ted for

Junc how as soon as he received the let -

ter of int ro du ct ion . T he tho ug ht of

finding other valuable collections of

ancient mas terp ieces a t Chang ' s pre-

vented this zealot of paint ing f rom

staying at his s tudio in the West

Garden.

' H e arrived a t Jun ch ow to find the resi-

dence of M r. Ch ang, th ou gh in spacious

ground s , bu t a desola te cot tage . Ivy

cl imbed up the wal ls and the garden

was covered w ith long grass, while hens



338 A U T U M N M O U N T A I N S 338

and ducks looked at the strange visitor

w ith questioning eyes. T he good old

Yen ko began to suspect the sincerity of

his honorab le teac her ; he could no t be-

lieve that the master of such a dirty

cottage could own the valuable pic-

ture. B ut at any ra te he gave his card

and the letter of introduction to a

boy, and told him th at he cam e fro m a

remote part of the country to see the

picture.

'He was ushered into a parlor where,

though it was furnished with chairs an d

tables of m ahog any, a cool scent of d us t

was floating. The shade of desolation

lurked on the tiled floor. The host was

a

fr il

bu t good-natured old man, with a

pale countenance and slender hands,

which gave him an aristocratic air.

After saluting the master of the cot-

tage, the good old Yenko asked him at

once to show the picture of the famous

genius of the Yuan dyna sty. Yenko

afterward told me that he fel t at that

time as if the pictu re would vanish into

thin air if he missed the opportunity.

'The host consented with pleasure,

and ordered his servant to hang the

picture on the bar e wall of the cha m ber.

'" T h is is Autumn M ountains ," sa id

he.

' Good old Yenko gave vent to a f ai nt

cry of admiration at the first glance. A

soft tone of greenish gray pe rvad ed th e

whole picture, which represented ser-

pentine streams wandering through

scattered groups of houses or under

tiny bridges and a high peak of the

mountains looming up behind the vil-

lages. A band of floating cloud sur-

rounding the side of the m ountains was

painted with shades of chalk. Th e con-

tr as t of the vermilion of the dead leaves

of the woods with the delicate blue of

the mountains fresh from an early rain

was of indescribable charm . T he p er-

fection of touch and the magn ificence

of the composition gave the splendid

picture an air of vastness and serenity.

'Good old Yenko, dumb-struck and

absent-minded, looked at the picture.

The more closely he scrutinized it, the

more charms he saw.

'"How do you l ike i t?" asked the

owner with a smile.

' "A divine masterpiece," replied the

you ng ar tis t. " Surely no othe r work of

Huang can rival this ."

' " Rea lly ? D o you thin k t ha t it is his

mas te rp iece?"

'" W h y n ot ?" replied Yenko, won-

dering what made the owner doubt his

sincerity.

'"There is no part icular reason why

I should doubt the value of your criti-

cism, bu t . . . , " the host blushe d like

a maiden, and with a faint smile he

resum ed. " T o tell the tru th , every

time I look at the picture, I feel as if I

were dreaming with m y eyes open. It

is a charming picture, it is true, but I

wonder if it is I alone who find its

charm,—• if other peo ple have t he same

impression; because it is no more than

a worthless piece of painting to many

people, too charming to be appreciated

by mortal eyes? I don't know what is

th e caus e of the stran ge feeling of doubt

which I experience before the picture.

This is why I asked your opinion."

'B u t Yenko paid no at ten tion. M any

years passed since I heard the story

from Yenko, when I heard a rumor

th a t Wan g had secured the picture. I

rejoiced at the rumor, for I found the

picture had not yet been lost and I

could have an opp ortu nity to see it . I

has tene d to Chincha ng to call on Wang

and asked him to show me the picture.

'M r . W ang with an air of tr iumph

said, " I expect to-d ay our Yen ko and

Hsiangpi at my house, but I must first

show you the picture."

. ' So saying h e hung the picture on

th e wall. Th e groups of houses dotted

w ith the red of dead leaves, th e streams;

the white clouds filling the valleys; the

blue peak s of m ountain s looming in the



A U T U M N M O U N T A I N S

339

d is tance . . . a m in ia tu re l andscape

most delicate and most charm ing, l ike

tha t described, and by H ua ng Tai-chih,

was before m y eyes. Pa lpita t ing with

delight, I fixed my eyes on it and

pondered.

' Surely it was draw n b y Hu an g; no

one can excel him in the p ow er of touch

and the splendor of color. B ut -— bu t it

is no t th e . pictu re wh ich Yen ko saw

at the house of M r. Ch ang . I t is an-

other work of Huang, inferior to that.

' I was surrounded by M r. Wan g an d

other guests, who were eagerly strain-

ing their ears to catch the first word of

criticism fro m m y lips. I had m ade a

painful effort in vain no t to betr ay m y

disappointment, for M r. W ang asked

impat ient ly :

" ' H o w do you l ike i t ?"

'I had to reply, "A divine master-

piece. I t is no wo nder th a t our honor-

able Yenko was transported by ad-

mirat ion at i t ."

'Mr. Wang seemed reassured, but

still his lowered eye-brows indicated a

shade of discontent . Ju st at tha t mo-

ment the good old Yenko entered the

room with his countenance brightened

up with a smile.

' " I saw the picture a t a desolate cot-

tage of Mr. Chang fifty years ago,"

said he. "N ow it is an e xceptional

pleasure for me to find th e sam e p icture

at this splendid mansion of our honor-

able hos t , Mr. Wang."

'With that he looked up at the

painting. Whether the picture was the

same one which he had seen at Cha ng's

or not depended on his judg m ent. W e

fixed our eyes on him . T o our gre at

astonishment his countenance clouded

over.

'Silence reigned. Mr. Wang timidly

asked, "H o w do you find it? Ou r

honorable Tan-ku has just given his

high opinion on it, b u t. . . ."

'Secretly I was afraid of his frank

opinion. B ut he replied in the m ost

cordial m anner, " I con gra tulate you on

having such a valuable treasure to add

to the glory of your eollection."

'But Mr. Wang's countenance be-

came darker than before, when, to our

great relief, Mr. Hsiangpi arrived.

'"Is it the picture? he asked simply

and fixed his eyes upon it. H e was

silent for some minutes, biting his

moustache.

'" Our honorable Yenko saw it fifty

years ago," rem arked M r. W ang, whose

anxiety did not allow him remain

silent. " W ell, m ay I ask y our opinion ?"

'T h e teach er of painting heaved a

sigh and did not lift his eyes from the

picture. '

' " I should be mu ch obliged to know

your opin ion on the p ic tu re . . . " M r .

W ang urged him w ith a forced smile on

his lips.

" 'Y o u mean . . . you mean this

pictu re . . . this . . ." stam m ered he.

'"W el l, yes, it is. How . . .? "

' " This . . . this is . . . is the best

picture ever drawn by H uang — jus t

look at this touch, these black and

white clouds. What power, what

vividness T h e tone of the woods is th e

m anif estatio n of divine genius. Look

at that mountain, a single touch of the

brush illuminates the whole composi-

tion."

'Our honorable Hsiangpi, who had

been silent, suddenly turned his face to

Mr. Wang and began to speak, point-

ing out beauties and giving credit to

the genius of the distinguished master

of the Y uan period. I exchanged a look

secretly w ith Yenko and asked, "R ea lly

is it that picture?" at which he shook

his head a t m e with a stra ng e expression.

'"E ve ry th in g is l ike a dream ," said

he. " I w onder if the owner of th e pic-

ture, M r. C hang, was an incarn ation of

the fox-spirit ."

' This is the story of the pic ture

Autumn Mountains, ' said Wang Tai-

chih, takin g up the cup of tea. 'M r .



340

T H E P R O F I T E E R

Wang made an inves t iga t ion af te rward

but no o ther p ic ture was found.

Whether our honorable Yenko saw a

copy of the same picture or i t was the

fa ul t of his m em ory , I d on ' t know, b ut

at an y ra te it i s t ru e th at he vis i ted th e

house of Mr. Chang. '

' B ut th e impression of the pictu re he

saw there remains as vivid as ever in

the m ind of our ho no rab le Yen ko. . .

' Ye s, I m yself can see it as viv idly as

he saw it there. '

' T he n there is no need of ou r regret -

t ing, i f the genuine picture was lost . '

T he tw o ar t is ts , c lapping their hand s,

laughed.

[Heraldo de Madrid (Liberal D ail y) ,

December Jf\

T H E P R O F I T E E R

B Y L U I S A N T O N D E L O L M E T

[The following article is from a prominent

'bourgeois' newspaper.]

L O O K a t h im Th ere he goes down

the s t reet , that ta l l , vigorous, def iant

looking ma n. N ot e the grea t wr inkle

across his fac e. I t looks l ike a s car .

In de ed i t is one. I t is th e scar of mo ral

combat — a memento of war — a fur -

row plowed by sleepless nigh ts. F or

yo ur prof i teer is no t a hap py m an . .

Whenever he moves , the varni sh

fai r ly crackles . H is tw en ty dol lar

shoes squeak; his si lk socks sparkle;

h is bra nd new overco at rus tl es . T he

prof i teer shines ou t f ro m every angle —

from his r ing, his scarf pin, and his

watch cha in .

H e walks wi th an abs t rac ted a i r , bu t

he is real ly embarrassed and sel f -con-

scious. H e does no t enjoy his we al th.

I t ham pers and chokes him. And a t

hear t he is s t i l l unsat isf ied, aspir ing

for things he wil l never have, e ternal-

ly d i scontented , torm ented [by the

unat ta inable .

To what does he owe his for tune?

People commonly say to h i s bold ven-

ture s . Befo re th e wa r , he owned a

l i t t le vessel . He juggled i t out of a

ba nk ru pt cy . At once he pu t i t in ser -

vice, t rading with the All ies , a t enor-

mo us ch a r t e r ra t e s . Ev e ry tr i p b rough t

him a for tun e . W i th in six m on ths he

was a l re ad y a we al thy man . B ut his

av ar ice took a la rm . Germ an sub-

m ar ine s Th ey mig ht torped o h is

vessel . So un der cover of darkn ess , he

got in touch wi th German spies and

offered to supply gasol ine to their U-

boats in exchange for immuni ty .

H is of fer was acce pted . H e was able

to car ry to England food and muni -

t ions . B u t the very s team er th a t de-

l ivered these cargoes in Brit ish ports,

would hal t on the high seas in the

myster ious hours of the night to supply

the submar ine p i ra tes wi th fue l and

arms to commit the i r c r imes

How many t imes , when repor t s of a

new torpedoing arr ived with their l i s ts

of human vict ims, did this prof i teer

m ed i ta te : I d id i t I d id i t

So his double prof i ts mul t ipl ied his

for tune , and made h im speedi ly a b ig

bus iness man. He bought two or three

addi t ional vessels , and playing both

sides of the game, deal ing s imul tane-

ously w ith t he Allies an d th eir enem ies,

be t raying the men to whom he owed

h is fo r tun e , he accum ula t ed unbounded

w eal th . T he i ll - favored , shabbi ly-

dressed bankrupt was conver ted in to a

brand new plu tocra t , not by the l abor

of his hands, not by his business fore-

s ight and abi l i ty, but by his readiness

to be t r ay and b y the d epth , to which

his avar ice would s toop.

He bought houses , founded banks ,

scattered his gold in many l ines of busi-

ness l ike the tentacles of an enormous,

gree dy oc topus . W hen the wa r was

ove r and t he oppor tun i t y fo r abnor -

mal prof i ts passed, his revenues con-

t inued to be bount i fu l .

T h

e r e u

P

o n

he began to lead an

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Akutagawa Autumn Mountian