The Spider's Thread

芥川龍之介

One morning, walking the edge of the lotus pond in Paradise, the Buddha looks down and sees Kandata thrashing in Hell far below. A great thief, a murderer, a man who piled sin upon sin. Yet once, while alive, he stepped over a small spider instead of crushing it. For that single act of mercy, one thread of spider silk is lowered from Paradise. Kandata climbs from the pool of blood along the slender thread - then looks down, and sees countless other sinners climbing after him. "This thread is mine. Get off. Get off!" What did those words cut? Compassion and self-interest, pierced through in a few thousand words: one of Akutagawa's finest short pieces.