Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories Setting & Symbolism

Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories Objects/Places

Rashomonappears in Rashomon

Rashomon is a once-magnificent imperial gate that has, by the time of the story, fallen into bad disrepair and ruin. The unnamed servant of the story creeps into the second story of the gate to find a pile of dead bodies and an old woman plucking hairs from the dead for wigs.

The Dragon of Sarusawa Pondappears in Dragon: The Old Potter's Tale

A Buddhist monk, E'in, plays a prank on his town by claiming that a dragon will arise from the nearby pond on a certain date. The town and all nearby towns become excited about the dragon and it becomes a big event. On the date E'in specified, everyone gathers at the pond and E'in is aghast when a dragon does indeed emerge from the pond to fly out of sight into the sky.

The Spider Threadappears in Spider Thread

The spider thread is provided by a heavenly spider, dropping like a rope all to way to Kandata suffering in Hell. It provides Kandata a...
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