3 Strange Tales by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

Author:Ryūnosuke Akutagawa [Akutagawa, Ryūnosuke]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Horror, Literary, Short Stories (Single Author)
ISBN: 9781935548126
Google: FvrauQAACAAJ
Publisher: One Peace Books
Published: 2012-01-15T18:57:53+00:00

Agni

Tucked away in a corner of Shanghai stood a dark house. It was steeped in shadows even at midday. On the second floor sat an old, sinister Indian woman and an American with a glint of money in his eye. They were deep in conversation.

The American held a match to his cigarette. “I’ve come here to ask you to read my fortune again.”

The Indian woman’s sharp eyes darted over his face. A sneer tugged at her lips. “You’re out of luck. I gave it up a while ago. These days you give people what they want and they don’t even take the time to thank you!”

The American didn’t stop to blink. “A gentleman always shows his gratitude,” he said, pulling out a draft for 300 dollars and sliding it over to her. “And that’s just for starters. If your reading proves correct, you can expect quite a bit more.”

Glancing at the draft, the woman smiled wide. “A gentleman indeed! Tell me now, what do you want to know?"

“When will Japan and America go to war?” he asked, pinching the tip of the cigarette hard with his teeth. “If my business associates and I knew in advance, then we could stand to make a handsome profit.”

“Well then. Come back tomorrow and I’ll tell you.”

“Of course. But make sure there are no mistakes.”

The Indian woman reclined and puffed up her chest. “In my 50 years of doing business I haven’t been wrong once--not once! Every word comes straight from the mouth of Agni— it can’t be wrong!”

When the American had gone, the old woman shuffled into the next room. “Elen! Elen!” she called.

A lovely Chinese girl came out in response. She was beautiful, but looked exhausted. The skin over her cheekbones, taught and swollen, looked as pale as wax.

“Where have you been?” the woman turned and snarled at her. “You’ve got some nerve. I bet you were dozing off in the kitchen again!”

Elen fixed her eyes on the floor and remained silent.

“Listen up. Agni is going to pay us a visit tonight. It’s been a while, so I suggest you prepare yourself!”

The girl raised her sad eyes to the dark face of the woman. “Tonight?” she asked.

“Tonight at midnight. Don’t forget!” the old woman snapped and threateningly jabbed her finger at the air in punctuation. “You make my life a living hell! If you get any ideas like last time, that’ll be the end of you! If I wanted to get rid of you, why I could snap your neck like a chicken...” The woman stopped short and scowled. She saw that Elen had gone to sit by the open glass window. She watched the people below walk up and down the lonely street.

“What are you looking at?!”

Elen pulled her gaze from the window. All the color had drained from her face. The woman glared back at her and, seizing a broom from the corner, began to shout. “I see. If you insist on making a fool of me, then someone needs

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