文庫BunkoJapanese classics, made readable with AI
Cover of 杜子春 (Toshishun)

Upper intermediate · JLPT N2

杜子春Toshishun — Toshishun and the Hermit of Mount Gabi

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

  • JLPT N2
  • 9,074 characters
  • 7 parts
  • about 76 minutes
  • 3 easier versions

Toshishun is a short literary fairy tale by Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, retold from a Tang-dynasty Chinese story and first written for the children's magazine Akai Tori. On a spring evening at the west gate of Rakuyō, a young man who has wasted his inheritance meets a strange one-eyed old man, and his fortunes change more than once. The story moves from city luxury to a lonely mountain peak and on into Hell, as Toshishun faces a test that asks what he truly values. The tone is gentle and fable-like. A warm storyteller narrates in polite desu/masu Japanese and sometimes speaks directly to the reader. The descriptions are vivid but never cluttered. For learners, the plot is easy to follow because events repeat in a clear pattern, and the dialogue shows several speech styles side by side: the hermit's blunt plain form, Toshishun's politeness, and the stiff, archaic commands of the rulers of the underworld. The main challenge is the many Chinese place names and the literary kanji vocabulary, most of which appear only once. The emotional climax rewards readers who reach the end.

Start reading →Try the easy N5 version

Contents

  1. The Old Man at the West Gate （一）Toshishun, a rich man's son who has spent his whole fortune, stands hungry and homeless at the west gate of Rakuyō one spring evening, wondering whether he would be better off dead. A one-eyed old man appears and tells him to dig at night where the head of his shadow falls, promising a cartload of gold. When Toshishun looks up in surprise, the old man has vanished.
  2. Two Fortunes Won and Squandered （二）Following the old man's advice, Toshishun digs up a cartload of gold and becomes the richest man in Rakuyō, living in dazzling luxury and surrounded by eager friends. When the money runs out after three years, the same friends abandon him. The one-eyed old man appears again, points him to a second buried fortune, and Toshishun wastes that one too in another three years.
  3. The Hermit Takes a Pupil （三）The one-eyed old man meets Toshishun at the west gate a third time. This time Toshishun refuses more gold, saying that people care only for money and he has lost faith in them, and he begs to become the hermit's pupil. The old man says he is Tekkanshi, a hermit of Mount Gabi, and agrees; the two ride off through the sky on a bamboo staff while the hermit sings.
  4. The First Trials on Mount Gabi （四）Tekkanshi sets Toshishun down on a high rock on Mount Gabi and orders him not to make a sound, whatever happens, while the hermit goes to visit Seiōbo. Left alone, Toshishun is threatened by a voice from the sky, attacked by a tiger and a huge white snake, and caught in a violent storm, but he stays silent. At last a pillar of fire falls from the clouds straight at his head.
  5. The God-General's Deadly Challenge （四（つづき））After the storm clears, Toshishun decides it was only another demon's trick. A towering god-general in golden armour then appears, demands to know who he is, and summons an army of heavenly soldiers to terrify him. Toshishun keeps his promise to Tekkanshi and stays silent, so the enraged god-general runs him through with his trident, and Toshishun lies dead on the rock.
  6. Silence Before the King of Hell （五）Toshishun's soul descends to Hell, where King Enma demands to know why he sat on Mount Gabi. He endures every torment in silence, so the King has his dead parents, reborn as wretched horses, brought in and beaten before his eyes. When his mother's faint voice tells him not to worry about them and to keep silent, Toshishun forgets the hermit's warning, runs to her and cries out, "Mother!"
  7. Waking at the West Gate （六）Toshishun finds himself back at the west gate of Rakuyō, as though nothing had happened. He tells Tekkanshi he is glad he failed to become a hermit, because he could not stay silent while his parents were beaten. Tekkanshi reveals he would have killed him if he had stayed silent, then gives him a house and fields at the foot of Mount Tai so he can live an honest, human life.

Easier versions

This story is also retold in simpler Japanese. Reading an easier version first makes the original much more approachable.

Before you read

  • The narrator uses polite desu/masu forms throughout, but the dialogue does not. Use speech style to track who is talking: the hermit's おれ/お前 and plain commands, Toshishun's polite requests, and the archaic その方 used by the god-general and King Enma.
  • Learn the key command early: 決して口を利くな ('never say a word'). 口を利く means 'to speak', and 決して…ない means 'never'. The whole test on Mount Gabi depends on this phrase.
  • The plot is built on repetition. The meeting at the west gate happens three times with almost the same wording. Compare these scenes closely, because the small changes in Toshishun's answers carry the story's meaning.
  • Learn a few core words before you start: 仙人 (hermit-sage), 黄金 (gold), 贅沢 (luxury), 地獄 (Hell), 鬼 (demon), and 馬 (horse). Most of the Chinese place names appear only once, so use the name list and read on without memorizing them.
  • Watch for the narrator stepping out of the story to speak to the reader. These asides are usually easy to read and tell you how to feel about Toshishun, which makes the harder passages around them easier to follow.

Words to know

The most useful words from the notes across the story.

WordMeaningJLPT
眇すがめblind (or squinting) in one eyeArchaic; 片目眇 = blind in one eye.—
薄情はくじょうcold-hearted, unfeelingLiterally 'thin feeling'. Describes people who drop you when you are no longer useful to them.—
佇んでたたずむto stand still, to lingerdictionary form: 佇むLiterary; suggests standing idle or lost in thought.—
愛想がつきたあいそがつきるto lose all patience with, to be completely disillusioned withdictionary form: 愛想が尽きるSet phrase; literally 'one's goodwill runs out'.—
仙人せんにんhermit-sage, a Taoist immortal with magical powers—
絶壁ぜっぺきsheer cliff, precipice—
留守るすabsence from home; being awayEveryday word: 留守番 means house-sitting.N4
財産ざいさんfortune, property, assetsN3
容子ようすappearance, the look of thingsOlder spelling of 様子.N3
贅沢ぜいたくluxury, extravaganceA key word of this part. 贅沢な暮らし = a life of luxury; 贅沢をする = to live extravagantly.N3
噂うわさrumour, talk, news going aroundN3
飽きてあきるto grow tired of, to be fed up withdictionary form: 飽きるTakes に: 贅沢に飽きる.N3
次第しだいdepending onNoun + 次第: 'up to ~, depends on ~'.N3
覚悟かくごbeing prepared for (something bad), resolve〜と覚悟しろ: 'be ready for the fact that…'.N3
悪戯いたずらmischief; prankA difficult kanji spelling of a common word, usually written in kana.N3

Plot summary

Show the full summary (contains spoilers)

Toshishun, a rich man's son who has spent everything, stands idle at Rakuyō's west gate. A one-eyed old man tells him to dig where the head of his shadow falls in the evening light. Toshishun finds gold, lives in luxury, and loses his fair-weather friends once he is poor again. The same thing happens a second time. At their third meeting he refuses the gold. Guessing that the old man must be a hermit, he asks to become his disciple. The hermit, Tekkanshi, takes him to Mount Gabi and orders him not to speak, whatever happens. Toshishun stays silent through terrors, death and the tortures of Hell. Then King Enma has his parents, reborn as horses, whipped before him. When his mother tenderly tells him not to worry about them, he cries out 'Mother!' He wakes at the west gate. He has resolved to live honestly, and the hermit gives him a house at Mount Tai.

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.

More stories by Akutagawa Ryūnosuke →