Kusamakura · Chapter
IX explained
The Narrator reads an English novel aloud to Nami-san, translating it into Japanese in an 'unhuman' manner.
What happens
The Narrator reads an English novel aloud to Nami-san, translating it into Japanese in an 'unhuman' manner. Their playful banter about unhumanity and art is interrupted by an earthquake, during which they share a close, charged moment. Nami-san then reveals she knows the Narrator asked to see her in her wedding gown, leading to a teasing exchange. She mentions visiting Mirror Pond and makes a disturbing joke about drowning herself, before leaving abruptly.
Themes in this chapter
The Unhuman Perspective
The Narrator and Nami-san explicitly discuss and perform 'unhuman' reading and behavior, treating art and life as detached from conventional emotion and causality.
Art vs. Reality
The reading of the novel blurs fiction and reality, with the Narrator and Nami-san commenting on the story's characters as if they were present, and the earthquake intrudes into their artistic reverie.
Characters to notice
- The Narrator
Reads an English novel in an 'unhuman' style, engages in philosophical banter with Nami, and is left in reverie after her dark joke.
- Nami
Listens to the reading, teases the Narrator about his request to see her in a wedding gown, mentions visiting Mirror Pond, and makes a morbid joke about drowning.
- Daitetsu
Referenced by his calligraphy on the wall and mentioned as the priest of Kaikanji who asked the Narrator to paint on a screen.
- Kyuichi
Mentioned as a young man going to the front, a cousin of Nami, who came to say goodbye.
Key passages
“If there was an unhuman way of reading, mine was certainly it, and the woman was listening also unhumanly.”
The Narrator reads in a deliberately detached, mechanical manner, and Nami listens in the same spirit.
Highlights the performative 'unhuman' aesthetic central to the chapter.
“A pool of water in the hollow of a rock in the garden was agitating in alarm; but that body of water moving from the very bottom as a whole, there was no break in the surface but irregular curves.”
The earthquake causes the water in a rock pool to tremble from its depths, creating smooth, undulating surface patterns.
The Narrator observes the earthquake's effect with aesthetic detachment, finding beauty in the motion.
“Won't you paint for me, Sensei, a picture of myself, drowned and floating in water—not struggling and in agony—but a nice little picture of me floating in easy, painless eternal repose.”
Nami-san asks the Narrator to paint her as a serene drowned corpse, free of suffering.
Her dark joke underscores her fascination with death and the unhuman, unsettling the Narrator.