japanese tales of mystery and imagination by edogawa rampo

THE CATERPILLAR

TOKIKO SAID GOOD-BU, LEFT THE main house, and went into thetwilight through the wide, utterly neglected garden overgrownwith weeds, toward the detached cottage where she and herhusband lived. While walking, she recalled the conventional words of praisewhich had been again bestowed upon her a few moments ago by the retiredmajor general who was the master of the main house.

Somehow she felt very queer, and a bitter taste much akin to that ofbroiled eggplant, which she positively detested, remained in her mouth.

"The loyalty and meritorious services of Lieutenant Sunaga are of coursethe boast of our Army," he had stated. (The old general was ludicrous enoughto continue to dignify her disabled soldier husband with his old title.)

"As for you, however, your continued faithfulness has deprived you of allyour former pleasures and desires. For three long years you have sacrificedeverything for that poor crippled man, without emitting the faintest breath ofcomplaint. You always contend that this is but the natural duty of a soldierswife, and so it is. But I sometimes cannot help feeling that it's a cruel fate fora woman to endure, especially for a woman so very attractive and charmingas you, and so young, too. I am quite struck with admiration. I honestlybelieve it to be one of the most stirring human-interest stories of the day. Thequestion which still remains is: How long will it last? Remember, you stillhave quite a long future ahead of you. For your husband's sake, I pray thatyou will never change."

Old Major General Washio always liked to sing the praises of the disabledLieutenant Sunaga (who had once been on his staff and was now his guesttenant) and his wife, so much so that it had become a well-rehearsed line ofconversation whenever he saw her. But this was all extremely distasteful toTokiko, and she tried to avoid the general as much as possible. Occasionally,when the tedium of life with her silent, crippled husband became unbearable,she would seek the company of the general's wife and daughter, but usuallyonly after first making sure that the general was absent.

Secretly, she felt that her self-sacrificing spirit and rare faithfulness welldeserved the old man's lavish praise, and at first this had tickled her vanity.But in those early days the whole arrangement had been a novelty. Then it hadeven been fun, in a way, to care for one so completely helpless as herhusband.

Gradually, however, her self-satisfaction had begun to change intoboredom, and then into fear. Now she shuddered whenever she was highlypraised. She imagined she could see an accusing finger pointing at her, whilein her ear she heard a sarcastic voice rasping: "Under the cloak of faithfulnessyou are leading a life of sin and treachery!"

Day by day the unconscious changes which took place in her way ofthinking surprised even herself. In fact, she often wondered at the ficklenessof human feelings.

In the beginning she had been only a humble and faithful wife, ignorant ofthe world, naive and bashful in the extreme. But now, although her outwardappearance showed little change, horrible passions dwelt in her heart,passions awakened by the constant sight of her pitiful, crippled husband—hewas so crippled that the word was utterly inappropriate to describe hiscondition—he who had once been so proud, and of such a noble bearing.

Like a beast of prey, or as if possessed by the devil, she had begun to feelan insane urge to gratify her lust! Yes, she had changed—so completely!From where did this maddening impulse spring, she asked herself. Could it beattributed to the mysterious charm of that lump of flesh? As a matter of fact,that is all her husband was-just a lump of flesh! Or was it the work of someuncanny, supernatural power which could not be defined?

Whenever General Washio spoke to her, Tokiko could not help feelingconscious of this inexplicable sense of guilt. Furthermore, she became moreand more conscious of her own large and fat body.