Chapter 13 magic

magic Akutagawa Ryunosuke An autumn rainy night.A rickshaw pulled me up and down several steep slopes in the Dasen area, and finally stopped in front of a small bungalow surrounded by green bamboos.The gate is very narrow, and the gray paint has gradually peeled off. By the light of the coachman's lantern, you can see the porcelain doorplate nailed to the door, which reads in Japanese: Matilam Misra, an Indian.Only this number plate on the door is new. Speaking of Matilam Misra, you may be familiar with it.Misra was born in Calcutta, dedicated to India's independence for many years, is a patriot.At the same time, he also learned a set of secrets from a famous Brahmin named Hassan Gan, and became a master of magic at a young age.Just a month ago, through a friend's introduction, I got in touch with Misra, and we talked about political and economic issues together.As for his magic tricks, I have never seen him once.So, I wrote a letter in advance, asking him to perform and demonstrate some magic tricks for me. So tonight, I urged the rickshaw driver and hurried to the secluded Misra apartment at the end of Dasen.

Drenched in the rain, I rang the doorbell under the door plate with the help of the dim lamp carried by the coachman.After a while, the door opened, and a short Japanese old lady poked her head out.Mishra's old handmaid. "Is Mr. Misra home?" "Yes, I have been waiting for you." The old maid was kind and amiable, and then she led me to Mishra's room across the door. "Good evening, it's raining, and it's hard to come to the humble house for you. You are very welcome." Mishra had a dark complexion, large eyes, and a soft beard.He twisted the wick of the kerosene lamp on the table and greeted me energetically.

"Where is it, as long as I can see your magic, this is nothing." I sat down on the chair and looked around. The dim light of the kerosene lamp made the room gloomy. This is a simple Western-style room with a desk in the middle and a good-sized bookshelf against the wall.There was a coffee table in front of the window, and besides, there were only chairs for us to sit on.Moreover, the coffee table and chairs are very old, and even the beautiful tablecloth embroidered with red flowers on the four sides is now worn to the point where threads are exposed, and it is about to be broken into pieces.

After exchanging pleasantries, consciously or unconsciously, I listened to the sound of the rain hitting the bamboo forest outside.Suddenly, the old maid brought black tea.Misra opened the cigar case and asked, "How about it? One?" "thanks." I was not polite, picked up a cigarette, lit a match, and asked, "The elf you drive seems to be called 'Jin', right? Then the magic I'm going to see later also uses the help of 'Jin'." ' power?" Misra ordered one himself.Smiling slightly, he exhaled a puff of smoke, which smelled quite good.

"It is an idea hundreds of years ago that there are elves like 'gold', and it can also be said to be a myth in the Arabian Nights era. The magic I learned from Hassan Gan is not difficult for you if you want to learn Mastery. In fact, it’s nothing more than an improved hypnosis.—You see, all you need to do is make a gesture like this.” Misra raised his hand and gestured two or three times in front of my eyes, like a triangular shape, then put his hand on the table and picked up a red flower embroidered on the edge of the tablecloth.I was taken aback, so I couldn't help but move the chair closer, and looked at the flower carefully. It was really good. Until just now, the flower was still one of the patterns on the tablecloth.Mishra brought flowers to my nose, and I even smelled a strong smell like musk.This is really incredible, I am amazed.Still smiling, Misra casually put the flowers back on the tablecloth.Needless to say, as soon as the flowers fell on the tablecloth, they returned to the original embroidered pattern, not to mention picking them off, and even a single petal would not be allowed to move.

"Well, it's very simple, right? Please look at this oil lamp this time." As Mishra spoke, he moved the oil lamp on the table a little bit, and for some unknown reason, the oil lamp spun like a top like a spinning top.However, the oil lamp stood firmly in one place with the lampshade as the axis, and it turned violently.At the beginning, I was very worried, for fear that if there was a fire, it would be terrible, and I kept sweating.However, Misra sipped his black tea leisurely, not panicking at all.Later, I simply plucked up my courage and stared intently at the oil lamp that was turning faster and faster.

When the umbrella rotates, a gust of wind is generated, and the yellow flame burns motionlessly in it.At this time, the oil lamp was spinning so fast that in the end, it was so fast that it couldn't be seen that it was turning, and I thought it was transparent and still.I suddenly discovered that the oil lamp had been restored to its original shape at some point, and it was still on the table in good condition, and the lampshade was unbiased and not out of shape in the slightest. "Strange? It's just something to trick children. If you're interested, I'll invite you to watch something else."

Misra turned his head, glanced at the bookshelf against the wall, then stretched out his hand to the bookshelf, and moved his fingers as if calling someone, so the books on the bookshelf moved one by one and flew to the On the table.And that flying method, like a bat flying around in the summer dusk, spreads the book covers on both sides and dances in the air.With a cigar in my mouth, I stared blankly at the scene.In the dim oil lamp, a book flies randomly, and then it is orderly - one piled into a pyramid shape on the table.However, when all the books on the bookshelf flew over, the one that flew first immediately started to move, and flew back to the bookshelf one by one.

And the most interesting thing is that one of the thin paperback books also spread its cover like wings, soared lightly into the air, and after flying around the table, the pages suddenly rustled and fell on my lap.I didn't know what was going on, so I picked it up and saw that it was a new French novel, which I remembered lent to Mishra a week ago. "Thank you Chengqing for letting me watch it for so long." Still smiling, Misra thanked me.Of course, most of the books had flown from the table back to the bookshelf at this time.I felt as if I had just woken up from a dream, and for a moment I forgot the politeness, but I remembered Misra's words just now: "If you want to learn this little magic of mine, it is not difficult to master."

"Although I've heard about your ability to conjure magic, I really didn't expect it to be so amazing. Just now you said that a person like me can learn it if he wants to, isn't it a joke?" "Of course I can learn it. Anyone can learn it without any effort. But there is only one thing..." Mishra half-spoken, fixed his eyes on me, and said in a serious tone that was different from the past: "There is only one thing. People with selfish desires cannot learn. If you want to learn the magic of Hassan Gan, you must first get rid of all desires, can you do it?"

"I think it can be done." I agreed with my mouth, but I always felt that something was wrong in my heart, but I immediately added: "As long as you are willing to teach." But Mishra's eyes showed suspicion.I'm afraid it's because I think it will be impolite to tell you more, so I finally nodded generously and said: "Okay, I'll teach you. Although it's easy to learn, it will take some time to learn, so I'll leave it tonight in my house." Stay overnight." "It's too intrusive." I was very happy because Mislaken taught me magic tricks, and thanked him again and again.But Mishra didn't care about this, and stood up from the chair calmly. "Grandma, grandma, the guests will stay overnight, please prepare to get out of bed." I was so excited that I even forgot to flick the ashes out of my cigarette, and I couldn't help but look up at Mishra's kindly face, facing the oil lamp, bathed in a ray of light. I have been learning magic from Mishra for more than a month.It was also a rainy night in autumn, in a room of a certain club in Ginza, five or six friends and I sat around the fire, chatting casually with great interest. Maybe this place is located in the center of Tokyo. Outside the window, although the roofs of the cars and carriages that are constantly flowing by from the rain are drenched, it is different from Omori, where the desolate sound of the rain hitting the bamboo forest cannot be heard. Of course, the laughter in the window, the bright lights, the big Moroccan leather chair, and the smooth and shiny parquet floor, all of these are by no means Mishra’s house that looks like a house haunted by elves. compared to. We were surrounded by cigar smoke, talking about hunting and horse racing, and then one of my friends threw the half-smoked cigar into the fire, turned to me and said, "I heard you've been learning magic tricks lately. How about that? Tonight." How about we change it on the spot?" "of course can." I leaned my head on the back of the chair, and answered pompously like a master magician. "Then, I'm begging you for everything. Please get someone more magical, something that can't be done by jugglers in the Jianghu." It seemed that everyone agreed, moved the chairs closer one by one, and looked at me urging, so I stood up unhurriedly. "Please watch carefully. I do magic tricks, neither falsification nor deceit." As I said that, I rolled up the cuffs of both hands, casually picked up a piece of hot charcoal from the fire, and put it on the palm of my hand.This little trick may have frightened the "friends" around me. They looked at each other in blank dismay, and leaned towards them blankly, for fear that I would be burned by the fire, otherwise it would be terrible, and they would rather make me retreat. And I, on the contrary, became more and more calm.Slowly showing the charcoal fire in the palm of everyone in front of everyone one by one, and then throwing it to the parquet floor violently, the charcoal fire exploded.Suddenly, a different sound of rain suddenly sounded on the floor, drowning out the drizzle outside the window.It was red charcoal fire, and at the same time it left my palm, it turned into countless dazzling gold coins, which rained down on the floor. The few friends were all in a daze as if in a dream, and they forgot to applaud. "Let's show your ugliness first." With a smug look on my face, I slowly sat back on the chair. "Are these all real gold coins?" They were all stunned, and finally a friend asked me, and it was five minutes later. "A genuine gold coin. If you don't believe me, you can pick it up and have a look." "It won't burn you?" A friend carefully picked up a gold coin from the floor and examined it. "That's right, it's real gold coins. Here, waiter, get your broom and dustpan, and sweep these coins into a heap." The waiter immediately followed suit, swept the gold coins on the ground together, and piled them into a hill on the table next to them.A few friends surrounded the table, and you talked to each other, full of praise for my magic. "It looks like the total value is around 200,000 yuan." "Well, there seems to be more. If piled on a delicate and delicate table, I think it would be enough to crush the table." "Anyway, it's a great trick you've learned. In an instant, black coal has been turned into gold coins." "If this goes on like this, in less than a week, you will be able to compete with Iwasaki and Mitsui and become a millionaire." I still leaned on the chair, breathed smoke rings leisurely, and said, "Where is it? I This kind of magic trick will not work once the mind is greedy for profit. Therefore, even though it is a pile of gold coins, since you have seen it, I should immediately throw it back into the original stove." When a few friends heard this, they joined forces to oppose it.Said: Wouldn't it be a pity to reduce such a large pile of money to coal fire?However, I had an appointment with Mishra, and I stubbornly argued with my friends about throwing the gold coins back into the furnace.At this time, a friend who was known for his cunning laughed disdainfully. "You want to reduce this pile of gold coins to coal fire, but we don't want to. This kind of argument, needless to say, will never end. In my opinion, you might as well use this pile of gold coins as a bet, and let's play." Cards. If you win, the pile of gold is yours to turn into coals and fire or whatever else you like. Once we win, the pile of gold is obediently ours. In this way, no one will make irresponsible remarks and everyone will be happy?" For this suggestion, I still shake my head and refuse to agree lightly.However, this friend became more and more sarcasm, looked back and forth between me and the gold coins on the table slyly, and said: "If you don't play cards with us, you probably don't want us to get this pile of gold coins? You said that you have to give up your desires to perform magic tricks, etc. In this way, isn’t your determination to be doubted?” "No, no, it's not that I'm reluctant to give it to you, so I want to turn this pile of gold coins back into coal fire." "Okay then, let's play cards." I fought over and over like this again and again, and I was forced into a dilemma. In the end, I had to do what my friends did, using the gold coins on the table as a bet, and compete with them at the poker table.Of course they were all happy, they immediately fetched a deck of cards, gathered around a card table in the corner of the room, "Hurry up, hurry up", and urged me who was still hesitating. So, in desperation, my friends and I reluctantly played cards for a while.But for some reason, I have always been unlucky in poker, but that night, I won a big win, which is unbelievable.What's more, I was not interested at first, but gradually I became interested, and within ten minutes, I got carried away and became fascinated by the game. The few of them originally planned to carve up my pile of gold coins without leaving a penny, so they deliberately arranged a game of cards, but now they all changed their faces in a hurry, and desperately wanted to fight for a game. win or lose.However, no matter how hard they tried, not only did I not lose once, but in the end I won a large sum, almost as much as this pile of gold coins.So my scheming friend, like a lunatic, held out the cards in front of me and shouted: "Come on, draw a card. I'll bet all my fortune. Lands, houses, horses, cars, everything. I will bet on you for everything else. And you, besides those gold coins, plus the winnings, all bet on it!" In an instant, the selfish desire in my heart raised its head.If I'm unlucky this time, not only the mountain of gold coins on the table, but even the money I finally won will have to be stolen by these opponents in the end.However, if I can win this hand, all the other party's property will be transferred to me.At this critical moment, if you don't borrow magic to use, then what's the point of studying magic hard!Thinking of this, I couldn't wait, secretly used a magic trick, and said with the momentum of a fight to the death: "Okay. You go first." "Nine o'clock." "Old K!" Proud of my victory, I gave a loud cry and presented the drawn card to the blue-faced opponent.However, what is strange is that the old K on the card seems to have possessed a soul, raised his crowned head, and suddenly leaned out from the card, holding a sword, grinning politely, showing a rash smile, A voice that seemed familiar said: "Grandma, grandma, the guests are leaving, there is no need to prepare a bed." As soon as the words fell, somehow, even the sound of the rain outside the window suddenly turned into the desolate drizzle in the bamboo forest of the big forest. Suddenly I woke up, looked around, and found that I was still sitting opposite Mishra, bathed in the dim light of the kerosene lamp, with a smile like the old king on the face of the card. Looking at the cigar between my fingers, the long ash still hasn't fallen off. I finally realized that the so-called one month later is just a dream within two or three minutes.But in these short two or three minutes, neither I nor Mishra have clearly understood that I am no longer qualified to learn Hassan Gan's magic.I bowed my head in shame, unable to speak for a while. "If you want to learn my magic tricks, you must first give up all desires. This level of cultivation, you seem to be a little short." Misra showed regretful eyes, resting his arms on the tablecloth embroidered with red flowers all around, calmly persuading me. (November 1919) Ailian translation