by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa · 1920
Tu Zichun, a ruined young man at the west gate of Tang-dynasty Luoyang, is twice made fabulously rich by a one-eyed old man and twice squandered it on false friends. Disillusioned with humanity, he becomes the hermit Tieguanzi's pupil on Mount Emei and must stay silent through hellish visions, until the sight of his tortured mother makes him cry out.