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KOTORI WEEKLY
The Spider's Thread
Ryunosuke Akutagawa
Looking down from a lotus pond in paradise, the Buddha remembers that Kandata once spared a spider.
A single spider's thread is then lowered from the pond toward hell.
A brief tale built around the vast distance between its two scenes.
Why read it now
In just a few minutes, it lets you take in the great distance between paradise and hell.
Before reading
Published in the magazine Akai Tori in 1918, this short tale is set in a Buddhist world.
Read next
Related authors
- Ryunosuke Akutagawa
- Kenji Miyazawa
Read this work in Kotori’s focused vertical reader.