Mr. Hat who was forced to lose his memory

Ryunosuke Akutagawa committed suicide.

At 01:30 a.m. the night before, he was still writing at his desk. In order not to disturb him, his wife hugged her son and fell asleep first.Unexpectedly, around six o'clock the next day, Akutagawa Ryunosuke was found lying on the bed struggling in pain, and his wife screamed in panic.After a while of panic, when the doctor finally arrived, the man had already passed away.

"Mr. Akutagawa probably committed suicide by taking an overdose of Verona. It is estimated that the time of taking the medicine was around two o'clock in the morning. In addition, because Mr. Akutagawa has been in poor health and suffered from neurasthenia, the Verona he took when he committed suicide was purchased in the past. It was prescribed by Dr. Mokichi Saito during his diagnosis." Doctor Shimojima said to the black-haired youth standing aside after examining the condition of Ryunosuke Akutagawa's body.

The black-haired young man was wearing a gray linen kimono. He silently looked at the lifeless corpse without speaking.Akutagawa Ryunosuke's friend Ryuichi Akutagawa sat next to his corpse, drawing for him while weeping, because Akutagawa Ryunosuke had told his wife before his death that he hoped that one day after his death, please let □□ Long Yi came to paint his remains.

The black-haired youth—Honda Kiku was not surprised that Ryunosuke Akutagawa would choose this path in the end, rather, he had vaguely had this premonition a long time ago.Akutagawa Ryunosuke's physical condition has not been very good. He went to Yugawara to recuperate due to gastroenteritis, neurasthenia and other diseases at the beginning of last year. Later, he was forced to bear a huge loan because of the fire in his sister's house. The financial constraints added to his physical burden.

He created "Kappa" during this painful period. However, the evaluation of this work by people in the society at that time was all "positive" and "full of wisdom". A letter complained: "These comments really make me feel uncomfortable. No one can understand the work of "Kappa". It is obviously created out of a loathing for everything—including self-loathing."

The extremely poor physical condition, coupled with excessive mental pressure, finally made this generation of writers choose to commit suicide and ended his 35-year life.

He left a suicide note to Honda Ju, expressing his gratitude and apology to Honda Ju for taking care of him all the time.At the end, he analyzed his inner thoughts.

"Suicides probably don't know why they commit suicide, just as our behaviors contain complex motives. However, I feel vague unease, why do I only have vague unease about the future..."②

Three days later, at three o'clock in the afternoon on July 27, Ryunosuke Akutagawa's funeral was held at Yanaka Saichang as scheduled.Many celebrities in the literary world came to the funeral. Dressed in plain black, Honda Kiku sat in the audience silently listening to the eulogies delivered by various representatives on the stage, expressing his tribute to the great writer Ryunosuke Akutagawa.

The man who delivered the eulogy on the stage was over fifty years old, his hair was gray, his expression was solemn, and his tone was full of deep regret.

Honda Ju knew the middle-aged man—Izumi Kyotaro, also known as Izumi Kyoka, who studied under Ozaki Koyo, and this time he represented the senior to attend the funeral.Akutagawa Ryunosuke praised the writing style of that senior in the literary world in front of Honda Chrysanthemum more than once, saying that his writing is almost the highest expression that Japanese can achieve.

After the funeral, Honda Ju did not stay to talk with those people, but quietly left the venue, just as quietly as when he came.

In fact, because of the recent death of Emperor Taisho Emperor Yoshihito due to illness, Prince Hirohito ascended the throne and changed his name to Showa.The time when the emperor changes is always busy, and Honda Kiku, as the national soul of the country, has almost no time to rest. To attend the funeral of Akutagawa Ryunosuke for a short time is already the best result he can win from his boss.

After all, Akutagawa Ryunosuke is one of the human friends he admires, and he can't even come to the funeral after death.

Man, what a wonderful and short-lived creature.Although Honda Chrysanthemum has witnessed the death of human beings too many times, he still feels a dull feeling in his heart—is that sad?Was he grieving the loss of yet another friend?

The sky was gray, like paper overturned by a huge ink, and after a while, it began to rain sparsely.Pedestrians on the road looked in a hurry to find a place to shelter from the rain, but Honda Ju didn't hide and let the rain wet his clothes.

The short black hair stuck to the sides of the cheeks stickyly, and the rainwater flowed into the clothes along the cheeks and neck, which was very uncomfortable.Honda Chrysanthemum sat on the high steps, looking at the deserted streets, the low buildings gradually blurred from near to far, and began to fade like a thousand-year-old memory.

As the national soul that has existed since the birth of Japan, Honda Ju has witnessed many people and things of all kinds. 100 years, a century, the short life of human beings is nothing more than a blink of an eye to him, and the eternal loneliness is always with him. with him.

But some human beings will write a stroke of color in his long memory, and he will not be able to forget it even hundreds of years later.For example, Prince Shotoku, Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Hijikata Toshizo and Okita Souji...

For future generations, a character who only exists in history books is a friend that Honda Kikuma has come into contact with and made friends with.In that long time ago, there were no cameras, and their appearance could only be recorded by means of painting.After they die, no one will know their true appearance anymore, only Honda Ju will remember them till now.

Fortunately, the camera was invented decades ago, and the appearance of those characters will also be recorded. In this way, Honda Ju will not be the only one who remembers them.

Although the current technology can only take black-and-white photos, it may not be long before cameras that can take color photos will come out.

"Master Honda, please go back."

The guard finally found the black-haired young man who had been sitting quietly in the rain, and was immediately frightened out of his wits.The superiors once gave them a strict order to protect that person at all times, and if that person makes any mistakes, they must apologize with all their heart.

Looking at the trembling expressions of those young people, Honda Ju sighed, not intending to embarrass them, so he stood up and responded lightly: "Ah, go back."

This time he came to attend Akutagawa Ryunosuke's funeral, Honda Kiku didn't want anyone to disturb him, so he sent the guards away with an excuse.Unexpectedly, they found it only a few hours later.

Honda Chrysanthemum lowered his eyes, and the guard standing behind him wanted to take an umbrella for him to avoid the rain, but he waved him away: "No, I won't catch a cold because of the rain. But you, be careful."

This is the truth.As the soul of the country, such things as ordinary human beings who are prone to fever at the slightest sign of trouble will not happen to him, and he will not even die.

As long as his land and people exist, he will not perish for a day.

After returning, Honda Ju went back to his courtyard to take a hot bath, dried his hair before changing into more formal attire, and went to meet his boss.

Although Emperor Showa has been in office for less than a year, because of the special circumstances of the previous emperor, he has actually been regent for several years and has been presiding over the overall situation of Japan.Honda Ju saw that he would not be a master of demons in public like Emperor Taisho, so he felt relieved to let him go.

After Emperor Showa knew where Honda Chrysanthemum had gone in the afternoon, he comforted him, saying that people are mortal, but Mr. Akutagawa's achievements in literature will be remembered by future generations for a lifetime.

Then Emperor Showa informed him that he would go with him to attend an important social occasion in the evening. Honda Chrysanthemum nodded in agreement with a smile that could not see any flaws.

In fact, due to his personality, Honda Ju didn't like this kind of occasion. A long time ago, he would even hide in bed all day long in order to avoid social interaction. No matter how long his boss knocked on the door, he didn't respond.Until one day, the blond young man who called himself Alfred laughed and kicked open the door of his house, forcing him out of his autistic state.

That day was the beginning of all disputes in future generations.

Later, I experienced a series of events such as the collapse of the shogunate and the Meiji Restoration. Even though I was not good at coping with social situations at the beginning, I finally became more and more handy when avoiding the inevitable, and learned to express the truth deep in my heart in front of people. Thoughts are hidden,

After all, it is the cabinet ministers headed by the emperor who really determine the future of Japan, and Honda Kiku, who is the soul of Japan, has fulfilled his duties as long as he is responsible for showing his face on those important occasions from beginning to end.In the early Meiji period, he was busy almost every day without touching the ground. Everyone was working hard for the future of the country and its people, and for the right to speak in this cruel world.In the mid-term, he was idle instead.

So Emperor Meiji suggested that he go to a new university in Japan to experience life as a student.

In the tenth year of Meiji, Tokyo Kaisei School and Tokyo Medical School were merged and restructured into a new university, which is also the first national comprehensive university in Japan.As the highest institution of learning in Japan, its faculty strength is needless to say.

This is a very tempting proposal. I have been rooted in the hypocritical officialdom full of flattery for many years, and I always feel that my brain is gradually breaking down.Honda Ju agreed without hesitation for too long, and went to Tokyo University as an ordinary student in the second year.

As a result, he got to know a lot of interesting people, and Natsume Kinnosuke was one of them.

Natsume Kinnosuke—later Natsume Soseki was 23 years old at the time, but his thinking was so mature that Honda Kiku was surprised, and he developed a rare interest in it, and later became a good friend.Even after Natsume Soseki graduated for many years and traveled around Japan, Honda Kiku never cut off contact with him. He would still receive letters from him from time to time, read them carefully, write a reply carefully and send it back.

Later, in the fourth year of Taisho, Honda Ju received a letter from Natsume Soseki, saying that he had recently accepted a student who was very talented and wanted to introduce him to him.

This is the first meeting between Honda Chrysanthemum and Akutagawa Ryunosuke.

The author has something to say: ①: [Vorona] is □□, a kind of sleeping pill, and it is also the drug that Mr. Akutagawa took when he committed suicide.

②: Quoted from Mr. Akutagawa's suicide note "Notes to an Old Friend"

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Thanks to the little angel dove and the little angel of the piano and the flower breath~