The Story Archive

In a Grove

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa · 1922 CE · Short Story · Japanese · Modernist

A samurai is found dead in a bamboo grove outside Kyoto, and seven people give evidence: a woodcutter, a priest, the arrested bandit, the wife, and the dead man through a medium. Each account holds together on its own and no two agree. One killing, seven testimonies, no verdict; truth itself put on trial.

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