Mr. Hat who was forced to lose his memory

Natsume Soseki finally failed to survive the winter of that year.In December of the fifth year of Taisho, he died suddenly of massive internal hemorrhage and was buried in the Zoshi Valley Cemetery.When Honda saw Akutagawa Ryunosuke again, he was standing silently in front of Natsume Soseki's tomb, with a book and a bunch of white flowers placed in front of the tombstone.Honda Kiku glanced at the title of the book, it was the first work "Rashomon" published by Akutagawa Ryunosuke not long ago.

Akutagawa Ryunosuke devoted a lot of effort to the publication of his collection of works. He not only designed the binding himself, but also invited his past mentors to write for the title and title page.

Honda Chrysanthemum said with some sentimentality: "It's really a pity that Kananosuke couldn't see your book published with his own eyes."

"But Natsume-sensei will always live in my heart, and I will continue to move forward with his last wish." Akutagawa Ryunosuke said softly.

Honda Kiku always knew how much Natsume Soseki had placed in Akutagawa Ryunosuke's disciple.In the end, Akutagawa Ryunosuke did not live up to Natsume Soseki's expectations. Now he has graduated from the English Department of the University of Tokyo and works at the Yokosuka Naval School as an entrusted instructor to teach English.The several articles he published in magazines in those years made him famous and won the appreciation of many senior colleagues.

Honda Ju looked at the "Rashomon" placed in front of the tombstone, thought for a long time, and suddenly said, "Please give me that book."

Akutagawa Ryunosuke was a little puzzled: "Didn't I send you a copy of the same sample magazine before I went down?"

Honda Ju replied: "Just treat it as if I kept it for Kanosuke."

Akutagawa Ryunosuke smiled bitterly: "It would be great if one day Natsume-sensei could really see my work with his own eyes."

It's a pity that the teacher has passed away long ago, and this wish has become a long-cherished wish that can never be realized.

After returning, Honda Chrysanthemum preserved the "Rashomon" that was originally placed in front of Natsume Soseki's tomb, and kept it in the study.Although that book may never have a chance to see the light of day again, at least, Honda Ju wants to save something for that lost friend.

……

Two months before Ryunosuke Akutagawa committed suicide, that is, in May of Showa [-], he was invited to the north to give a publicity lecture for a publishing house, so he asked his friend Satomi to travel along the road towards Hokkaido.Honda Kiku once dissuaded Akutagawa Ryunosuke from taking a good rest at home, because his health was getting worse year by year, and he suffered from neurasthenia, drug rash, stomach cramps, enteritis, palpitations and other diseases at a young age. Some unavoidable entanglements and burdens caused him to be mentally stimulated, his health was deteriorating due to physical and mental exhaustion, and his creation was also at a low ebb.

Honda Ju was worried that he would not be able to bear the many affairs due to his mental state.

However, Ryunosuke Akutagawa shook his head slightly: "Since I have already agreed to the invitation to speak, I must not break my promise."

After returning, Honda Ju looked at his future schedule, and suddenly found that he was going to a place called Aomori in a week to do business, and he could just stop by to listen to Akutagawa Ryunosuke's speech.

Many people came to the Aomori Public Hall that day. Wearing a simple gray kimono, Honda Kiku blended into the crowd and waited for the speech to begin.

Suddenly, a notebook fell at his feet.Honda Chrysanthemum bent down to pick it up, but accidentally saw the contents inside, the whole page was full of Akutagawa Ryunosuke's name.

Is the owner of the notebook actually a fan of Ryunosuke Akutagawa?

Honda Chrysanthemum sighed secretly, Akutagawa Ryunosuke's literary status is beyond the reach of ordinary people, and it is normal to have a group of loyal fans, but this is the first time he has seen such an act of writing his name on a whole page, if Akutagawa If Ryunosuke saw it, he would probably be shocked too, right?

"Sorry...that's my notebook, please return it to me."

Honda Chrysanthemum raised his head when he heard the sound. It was a boy about seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing a formal school uniform, with a somewhat reserved expression.Judging from the appearance alone, it is absolutely impossible to tell that he is a fanatical fan who would write Ryunosuke Akutagawa's name all over the notebook.

"Please keep it safe, don't lose it again." Honda Ju returned the notebook to the boy, and wanted to say something more. At this time, the speech on the stage officially started, so the boy immediately turned his head to the one on the stage. The man's eyes were full of undisguised longing.

Every time Ryunosuke Akutagawa said a word on the stage, the boy would write a sentence in his notebook, with a serious expression as if he was taking minutes of a meeting.

During the break, Honda Kiku, who watched the boy's notes filled several pages, said in amazement, "You really like Akutagawa."

"Ah? Yes, yes!" As if discussing one's idol with others is a crucial matter, the originally somewhat reserved tone of the boy became lively, "Ms. Akutagawa's article is full of insights and words. Don't you think so?"

"Indeed... after the speech is over, do you want to have a few words with Akutagawa?" Honda Kiku asked with a smile on his face.It is indeed a joyful thing for the articles written by my friends to be recognized by the public.

However, he didn't know what he thought of, and the boy's joyful expression suddenly fell down.

"...It still doesn't work." He whispered, "I ran out to listen to Mr. Akutagawa's speech without telling my relatives, and now I have to go back quickly."

"That's it...then wait until next time." Honda Ju said.

However, there will be no next time.

Because two months later, Akutagawa Ryunosuke committed suicide by taking sleeping pills at home, ending his own life. After closing his eyes, he never opened them again.

In the months after attending Ryunosuke Akutagawa's funeral, Honda Kiku has been in a bad mood.Although he should have been used to the departure of countless people over the long years, but whenever that moment really came, he would still feel a faint sadness in his heart.

It's like this every time, the feeling of powerlessness that can never keep anything, so that I can only read the works of the deceased, and recall the bits and pieces of getting along with them in my mind.

"Honda?"

As if someone was calling his name, Honda Ju turned around on the street and saw a short young man not far behind him.

The young man was wearing a black fedora hat and a black coat.His eyes were very bright and piercing, and there was a stack of papers under his armpit. He didn't know what was written on it. Honda Ju could vaguely see some French words in it.

"Excuse me, are you...?" Honda Ju felt that this person looked familiar, but couldn't remember where he had seen him before, so he had to ask apologetically.

"I'm Chuya, Zhongyuan. Didn't you live next to my house for a while more than ten years ago? You also gave me an original collection of poems by Mr. Rimbaud, which I have kept to this day." A short young man wearing a hat Walking over, his tone was quite casual, and he seemed to have a bold personality, "But I feel that your appearance hasn't changed much."

"Oh, it's Chuya?" Honda Ju remembered that more than ten years ago, he moved into a family next to his residence in Yamaguchi, and the oldest child was the one in front of him.

I haven't seen him for 12 years. Nakahara Nakaya has grown from an eight-year-old child to a 20-year-old youth. His appearance has changed greatly. It is understandable that Honda Chrysanthemum Club did not recognize him immediately.

However, I didn't expect that child to actually come to Tokyo from Yamaguchi...

"Have you been admitted to a university in Tokyo?" Honda Ju asked.

"Well... yes, I'm studying at a Japanese university, and I'm studying preparatory courses." Although Nakahara Nakaya replied in this way, for some reason, his eyes dodged a little, which naturally did not escape the eyes of Honda Ju.

This is a typical characteristic of lying.

But why did Zhongyuan Zhongye lie about this?

After questioning, Nakahara Zhongya replied a little discouraged: "Well, in fact, I secretly dropped out of school last September. My mother doesn't know about it yet, please don't tell her."

Honda Ju looked at this young man who was half a head shorter than him, Nakahara Fuku, Nakahara Nakaya's mother, was a gentle woman by nature, it must be very difficult to bring up a few children, but Nakahara Nakaya But he had to drop out of school halfway... why?

Although he had such doubts in his heart, Honda Ju didn't ask directly, but asked about other things: "What have you been doing recently?"

Now that he has dropped out of a Japanese university, but has stayed in Tokyo for more than a year without returning to his hometown, it means that Chuya Nakahara must have found a reason to stay here.

"In order to better understand the works of French poets, I applied to a language school and am learning French. I hope that one day I can translate all works of Mr. Rimbaud." A little bit of light, "Now, I recently joined "Suriya"① and am writing lyrics for them. "

He took out a stack of papers under his arm, flipped through them a few times, and finally pulled out one of them and handed it to Honda Ju.Looking at the words on the paper, Honda Ju read out involuntarily.

"A thick gray sky in autumn/Pupils as bright as a black horse/Lily lilies withered after dry water/Ah, what a void in my heart②... Is this your own work?"

"Yes." Nakahara Chuya's tone was a bit embarrassed, but the sincere smile on his face could not be concealed anyway, "I just discovered after I came to Tokyo to compose my first poem, Sure enough, my personality is still the most suitable for poetry, right? So I decided to take poetry creation as my job in the future. "

"Really? Yes, you have found what you really want to do." Honda Ju also smiled.

"Let's not talk about this, since it will be rare to meet, why don't we go have a drink together!"

Honda Ju couldn't resist Chuya Nakahara's warm invitation, so he had no choice but to agree to go to the bar for a drink together.Now Nakahara is no longer the kid he was back then, and he will meet him again in Tokyo, Honda Ju is actually a little happy in his heart, and even the faint haze that lingered in his heart has been swept away.That being the case, why not have a drink together?

——As everyone knows, this decision will turn into a complete disaster after three hours.

The author has something to say: ①: It is the transliteration of "スルヤ", a music group founded by a group of college students. At that time, the middle school was also writing lyrics for them, and also got the opportunity to publish poems there for the first time.

②: From Zhongye's poem "The Dying", created in November 1926. In May 1928, at the second presentation of "Suriya", the songs composed by Saburo Mori for Chuya's poems "Morning Song" and "Dying End" were performed for the first time.

③: From the postscript part of Chuya's collection of poems "Songs of the Past"

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The disaster at the end refers to Mr. Nakahara's drinking capacity... um...

【Victims Ango Sakaguchi, Osamu Dazai and others have something to say about this.jpg】【bushi