[ Well, that's not surprising. It's a fairly obscure story. ]
The title says it all. There was once a wise man; an old safe who believed that he had no love for his fellow man and wished to be left alone with his studies. He turned away the poor, the widowed, and the orphans, irritated by them; and when he buried his father, he solemnly wished he had no heart.
Thus, he sought and later summoned Fortune, and when asked what he wished for sad, "Perfect happiness. Fortune herself is my desire."
He considered Fortune a force of nature and could not be found in money, nor good eating and drinking, and instead clarified that he wished to have no heart. After that, he was able to see the greatest want and distress without feeling troubled. He thought himself happier than all others for this.
One day, he was visited by a prince who who had been sent to the neighboring kingdom along with his brother to find a wife. The prince pitied him for being a person who had no wife and no children; who found no pleasure in nature or the blessing of living with others.
But the old sage said, "I have never married, and I never shall. My time is too valuable to be spent in the careless world, which seems to live only for idle pleasures and trifling pursuits. I live for a grand purpose," and, "I have thought and studied for many years, but perfectly happy I never was until I lost my heart. I have lost that, and do not wish to have it back."
The prince promised to find the wise man a wife. He found in the neighboring kingdom two princesses. He visited the old sage with them in tow, and proclaimed that they were not suitable for him. Enraged, the old sage turned two into stone, and kept the remaining princess to use as a slave - a "wife." You can imagine her distress, but her tears meant nothing to him and her pleas for mercy fell upon deaf ears.
One day, the elder prince came looking for the younger one. After feeding an eagle and saving a mole, he he was granted their kindness in finding the philosopher's heart. He returned it to the man, who pleaded to have his heart and his youth returned, that he might live like other men.
There now, the prince and princesses were freed, and by the philosopher's chair there stood a small boy. This man had found his heart again, and was to begin life afresh.
"For none of God's creatures can live without a heart," is the ending and the moral.
[ It could be mistaken as being about Dazai, but it's not. After all, Dazai never had any particular inclination to study, nor does he reject companionship; quite the opposite in fact, where it seems as though he was born without a heart and thus incapable of having what he wants most. Likewise, he finds that age has yet to make him worse rather than better. It seems unlikely to him that it could.
So, what's the point of sharing this story? Well, it's just one of his whims.
Dazai pauses, allowing his companion to take everything in before asking, ]
no subject
The title says it all. There was once a wise man; an old safe who believed that he had no love for his fellow man and wished to be left alone with his studies. He turned away the poor, the widowed, and the orphans, irritated by them; and when he buried his father, he solemnly wished he had no heart.
Thus, he sought and later summoned Fortune, and when asked what he wished for sad, "Perfect happiness. Fortune herself is my desire."
He considered Fortune a force of nature and could not be found in money, nor good eating and drinking, and instead clarified that he wished to have no heart. After that, he was able to see the greatest want and distress without feeling troubled. He thought himself happier than all others for this.
One day, he was visited by a prince who who had been sent to the neighboring kingdom along with his brother to find a wife. The prince pitied him for being a person who had no wife and no children; who found no pleasure in nature or the blessing of living with others.
But the old sage said, "I have never married, and I never shall. My time is too valuable to be spent in the careless world, which seems to live only for idle pleasures and trifling pursuits. I live for a grand purpose," and, "I have thought and studied for many years, but perfectly happy I never was until I lost my heart. I have lost that, and do not wish to have it back."
The prince promised to find the wise man a wife. He found in the neighboring kingdom two princesses. He visited the old sage with them in tow, and proclaimed that they were not suitable for him. Enraged, the old sage turned two into stone, and kept the remaining princess to use as a slave - a "wife." You can imagine her distress, but her tears meant nothing to him and her pleas for mercy fell upon deaf ears.
One day, the elder prince came looking for the younger one. After feeding an eagle and saving a mole, he he was granted their kindness in finding the philosopher's heart. He returned it to the man, who pleaded to have his heart and his youth returned, that he might live like other men.
There now, the prince and princesses were freed, and by the philosopher's chair there stood a small boy. This man had found his heart again, and was to begin life afresh.
"For none of God's creatures can live without a heart," is the ending and the moral.
[ It could be mistaken as being about Dazai, but it's not. After all, Dazai never had any particular inclination to study, nor does he reject companionship; quite the opposite in fact, where it seems as though he was born without a heart and thus incapable of having what he wants most. Likewise, he finds that age has yet to make him worse rather than better. It seems unlikely to him that it could.
So, what's the point of sharing this story? Well, it's just one of his whims.
Dazai pauses, allowing his companion to take everything in before asking, ]
What do you think?