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Cover of 鼻 (Hana)

Upper intermediate · JLPT N2

鼻Hana — The Priest's Nose

by Akutagawa Ryūnosuke (芥川竜之介, 1892–1927)

  • JLPT N2
  • 5,735 characters
  • 4 parts
  • about 48 minutes

Nose is a short, darkly comic tale about vanity and the gap between how we see ourselves and how others see us. Zenchi Naigu, a respected Buddhist priest at Ike-no-o, has a nose so long it hangs below his chin. He pretends not to care, but secretly frets over it and scans every visitor's face for a nose like his. When a disciple brings back an odd cure from the capital, the Naigu gets the chance to change his face and finds out how other people really feel about it. Akutagawa drew the premise from an old Japanese tale and published the story in 1916; Natsume Sōseki's praise helped launch his career. The narrator is dry and ironic. He watches the Naigu's small self-deceptions closely and sometimes steps in to comment on human psychology. For learners, the story is short and has a clear plot and one memorable image. The challenge is the Taishō-era literary style: long sentences, formal written grammar, Buddhist vocabulary, and dialogue in archaic monk's speech. It is a good first step into modern literary prose.

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Contents

  1. A Nose Too Long for DignityZenchi Naigu, a priest of Ike-no-o who has risen to the post of naidōjō-gubu, has a nose known to everyone in Ike-no-o: five or six inches long, it dangles below his chin, and he even needs a disciple to hold it up with a board while he eats. What truly torments him is not the inconvenience but his wounded pride, so he secretly studies his face in the mirror and scans every visitor to the temple, hoping to find someone with a nose like his, and grows more miserable when he finds none.
  2. The Search for a Cure BeginsAfter finding no comfort in the scriptures and failing with folk remedies, the Naigu learns, through a disciple who has been to the capital, of a cure from a doctor there: boil the nose, then have someone tread on it. Pretending not to care, he waits for his disciple to talk him into trying it, and the disciple, who sees through the act, does exactly that. The nose is steeped in scalding water through a hole in a tray and then trodden on, while the Naigu lies on his side, unable even to shake his head.
  3. A Short Nose and New LaughterThe disciple treads on the Naigu's boiled nose, plucks out the grease with tweezers, and boils it again, and the nose shrinks to an ordinary size. Delighted but anxious that it might grow long again, the Naigu keeps checking that it stays short. Within days, though, he notices that people laugh at him in a different manner than before, the samurai even more amusedly, and he senses there is more to it than the mere change in his looks.
  4. The Long Nose ReturnsThe Naigu feels that the people of Ike-no-o laugh at his shortened nose more openly than they did before, and the narrator explains this as the bystander's egoism: people sympathise with another's misfortune but feel let down when that person escapes it. Embittered, the Naigu grows short-tempered and even strikes the temple boy. One cold autumn night the nose swells and itches, and by morning it has grown back to its old length. He feels light-hearted, sure that no one will laugh at him now.

Before you read

  • Learn the Naigu's title and the story's key words first: 内供 (the priest's court rank, used almost like his name), 弟子 (disciple), 鼻, 茹でる (to boil), 踏む (to tread on), and 自尊心 (pride). They carry most of the plot.
  • The text uses the older spelling 云う for 言う, especially in the pattern 〜と云えば (speaking of…) and in 〜と云う. Read it exactly as いう.
  • Watch how the narrator explains the Naigu's motives with 〜からばかりではない… それよりむしろ〜からである ('not only because… but rather because…'). This pattern marks the gap between what the Naigu says and what he really feels, and that gap is the heart of the story.
  • The dialogue is archaic. The disciple says ござる, 申した, じゃが and 痛うはござらぬ (= 痛くはありません), and the Naigu uses ぬ and なんだ for negatives (ぬ = ない, なんだ = なかった). Once you know these few substitutions, the lines are simple.
  • Part 4 contains the narrator's short essay on 'the bystander's egoism' (傍観者の利己主義). Read it slowly, and more than once if needed. It uses 〜ば〜ほど and 〜とさえ思う, and it explains why the ending turns out as it does.

Words to know

The most useful words from the notes across the story.

WordMeaningJLPT
不承不承ふしょうぶしょうreluctantly, grudginglyNote the rendaku in the second half: ぶしょう.—
依然としていぜんとしてstill, as beforeWritten, formal adverb.—
むず痒いむずがゆいitchy, ticklyA crawling, irritating itch. Also used figuratively for feeling awkward or restless.—
勧めすすめるto urge, recommenddictionary form: 勧めるN3
気の毒きのどくpitiful, sorry for someoneN3
分ぶbu, an old unit of length (about 3 mm)One tenth of a 寸 (sun). 四分 is roughly 1.2 cm.N3
機嫌きげんmood, temper機嫌が悪い means 'in a bad mood'.N3
茹でてゆでるto boil (food)dictionary form: 茹でるIntransitive partner 茹だる appears in the disciple's line; the cooking word is part of the comedy.N2
矛盾むじゅんcontradictionLiterally 'spear and shield', from a Chinese fable about a merchant selling both an unstoppable spear and an unbreakable shield.N2
すましているすますto look unconcerned, to put on a composed airdictionary form: 澄ますOften in the form すました顔, a prim or innocent-looking face.N1
自尊心じそんしんpride, self-esteemThe key theme of the story.N1
心細くこころぼそいforlorn, lonely, uneasydictionary form: 心細いLiterally 'heart-thin': the feeling of being alone and unsupported.N1
試みたこころみるto try, attemptdictionary form: 試みるMore formal than やってみる.N1
滑稽こっけいcomical, ridiculousA な-adjective. It can suggest something laughable in a slightly pitiful way.N1
呟くつぶやくto murmur, to mutterSpeaking quietly, often to oneself.N1

Plot summary

Show the full summary (contains spoilers)

Zenchi Naigu, a high-ranking priest at Ike-no-o, has a nose five or six inches long that dangles below his chin. A disciple must hold it up with a board while he eats. Its inconvenience matters less to him than the wound to his pride. After scriptures and remedies fail, a disciple learns of a cure from a doctor in the capital: boil the nose, then tread on it. The Naigu feigns indifference until the disciple persuades him. After boiling, trampling and plucking, the nose shrinks to normal size. The Naigu is delighted, but people now laugh at him more openly than before. The narrator attributes this to 'the bystander's egoism': people pity a misfortune but feel let down when someone escapes it. The Naigu grows irritable. Then one cold autumn night the nose swells, and by morning it is long again. He feels relieved, sure that no one will laugh at him now.

About the author

Akutagawa Ryūnosuke (1892–1927) was one of the most important writers of modern Japanese short fiction. Born in Tokyo, he studied English literature at Tokyo Imperial University, and his early story 鼻 (The Nose) won praise from Natsume Sōseki. Many of his works retell older Japanese and Chinese tales with modern psychological insight, including 羅生門 (Rashōmon) and 藪の中 (In a Grove), which later inspired Kurosawa Akira's film Rashomon. He died by suicide at the age of 35. The Akutagawa Prize was named in his honour by his friend Kikuchi Kan.

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