Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories Chapter Summary & Analysis - Rashomon, In a Bamboo Grove, and The Nose Summary

Rashomon, In a Bamboo Grove, and The Nose Summary

Rashomon:

A recently dismissed servant (unnamed) is watching the rain come down under the Rashomon, a large imperial gate. This is a time, in the late Heian period of Japanese history, that the warlords have wrested control from the monarchs, and the country has fallen into disrepair and chaos. A sign of this is the Rashomon itself which appears dilapidated, its lacquer chipped and fading.

The servant, having no master and thus no job or income, wonders how he will get on in life. He dares to think of thievery as a way to survive, but is frightened at the prospect of being an outlaw. Desperate for a place to sleep for the night, he notices a staircase going to the second story of the Rashomon, which he climbs stealthily.

There he finds stacks and stacks of bodies, the victims of the various warlord wars and other consequences of...
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