Introduction
This work tells the story of how Buddha, remembering a good deed done by Kandata, an extremely evil man who has fallen into hell, tries to save him by dropping a spider’s thread. However, the moment Kandata tries to shake off the other sinners in an attempt to save himself alone, the thread breaks and he falls back into hell.
It shows that the path to salvation is closed off by the self-centered thought of “I just want to save myself,” and from a Buddhist perspective, it conveys the lesson that seeking only one’s own benefit will not lead to enlightenment or salvation.
This work is sometimes used as a moral education material for children, likely due to its strong allegorical elements.
Ryunosuke Akutagawa (Wikipedia)
*Aozora Bunko (Aozora Library) is a Japanese digital library that provides free access to public domain literary works.
“The Spider’s Thread” by Ryunosuke Akutagawa
１
One day, Buddha was strolling alone along the edge of a lotus Pond in paradise.
The lotus flowers blooming in the Pond were all pearl-like and white, and from the golden stamens in the middle of each flower an indescribably sweet fragrance was constantly overflowing into the surrounding area.
It must have been morning in paradise.
Soon Buddha stood at the edge of the Pond and, looking down through the lotus leaves covering the water’s surface, Buddha suddenly saw what was below.
Because the bottom of this lotus Pond in paradise corresponds exactly to the depths of hell, through the crystal clear water one could see the scenery of the River Sanzu and Mount Needles as clearly as if one were looking through peeping glasses.
Then, in the depths of hell, Buddhad’s eye fell on the figure of a man named Kandata squirming among other sinners.
This man was a master thief who had murdered people, set fire to houses, and committed many other evil deeds, but Buddha remembered having done just one good thing.
The story goes that one day, as the man was passing through a deep forest, he saw a small spider crawling along the roadside.
So Kandata quickly raised his foot, ready to trample the spider to death, but then he suddenly thought, “No, no, this thing may be small, but it still has a life.
It is a pity to take such a life so wantonly.”
So he changed his mind and ended up sparing the spider instead of killing it.
As Buddha looked upon the state of hell, he remembered that Kandata had once saved a spider, and so Buddha thought that in order to repay the man for his good deeds, Buddha should, if possible, rescue him from hell.
Fortunately, looking nearby, Buddha saw a paradise spider spinning a beautiful silver thread on a jade-colored lotus leaf.
Buddha gently took the spider’s thread in his hand and lowered it straight down through the jewel-like white lotus leaves to the depths of hell, far below.
２
This is Kandata, who was floating and sinking with other sinners in the Pond of blood at the bottom of hell.
Wherever he looked, it was pitch black, and every now and then he thought he saw something vaguely rising up from the darkness, and it was the glimmer of the needles of the dreaded Mountain of Needles, and he felt nothing less than lonely.
Above him, it was as silent as the inside of a grave, and the only sound that could be heard occasionally was the faint sighing of a sinner.
A man who falls down here must be so exhausted from the tortures of hell that he no longer has the strength to cry out.
Even Kandata, a master thief, choked on the blood of the Pond, and struggled like a dying frog.
But one day, when Kandata happened to raise his head and look up at the sky above the Pond of Blood, he saw a silver spider’s thread, shining faintly from the distant heavens in the silent darkness, slowly descending above him, as if afraid of being seen.
When Kandata saw this, he instinctively clapped his hands in joy.
If one clings to this thread and climbs as far as one can, there is no doubt that one will be able to escape from hell.
In fact, if all goes well, one may even be able to enter paradise.
If one does so, one will no longer be chased up to the mountain of needles, and one will no longer be drowned in a lake of blood.
Thinking this, Kandata immediately grabbed the spider’s thread tightly with both hands and began to climb higher and higher with all his might.
Since he was originally a master thief, he had been accustomed to such things for a long time.
But the distance between hell and paradise is thousands of miles, so no matter how anxious you are, it’s not easy to get to the top.
After climbing for a while, Kandata finally grew tired and was unable to pull any further upwards.
Since there was nothing he could do, he decided to take a break, so he hung halfway down the thread and looked down into the distance.
His efforts were rewarded, for the Pond of Blood where he had been moments ago was now hidden beneath the darkness.
And the faintly shining mountain of needles was now beneath his feet.
If he continued climbing at this rate, it might actually be possible to escape from hell.
With his hands entangled in the spider’s thread, Kandata laughed in a voice he had not used in all the years he had come here, “I’ve got it. I’ve got it.”
Suddenly, he noticed that below the spider’s thread, an endless number of sinners were following him, climbing up like a line of ants, all with the same intent.
Upon seeing this, Kandata was so shocked and frightened that for a while he just stood there with his mouth agape like a fool, his eyes moving about.
How could this thin spider’s thread, which seems likely to snap even by one person, be able to withstand the weight of so many people?
If it were to snap midway, then even he, who had made such great efforts to climb up to this point, would fall back down to hell from where he started.
It would be a terrible thing if that were to happen.
But in the midst of all this, hundreds, if not thousands, of sinners are crawling out of the bottom of the pitch black Pond of Blood, and in a single file, they are working their way up the slender, shining spider’s thread.
If they do not do something now, the thread will surely break in two down the middle, and they will fall.
So Kandata raised his voice and cried out, “Hey, you sinners!
This spider’s thread is mine! Who on earth did you ask to climb up here? Get down! Get down!”
At that very moment, the spider’s thread, which had been fine up until then, suddenly snapped where Kandata had been hanging, with a loud snap.
Kandata was left helpless.
In no time at all, he cut through the wind, spun around like a top, and fell headfirst into the darkness below.
All that was left behind was the thin, glittering spider’s thread of paradise, hanging down briefly in the moonless, starless sky.
３
Buddha stood on the edge of the lotus Pond in paradise and watched the whole scene, but when Buddha saw that Kandata had sunk to the bottom of the Pond of blood like a stone, Buddha resumed his stroll with a sad look on his face.
Buddha must have found it despicable that Kandata’s heartless desire to only escape from hell received such a heavy punishment that he was sent back to hell.
But the lotus in the lotus Pond of paradise doesn’t care about such things at all. The pearl-like white flowers sway their calyxes around the feet of Buddha, and from the golden stamens in the middle of them an indescribably delicious fragrance overflows ceaselessly into the air.
It must be nearly noon in paradise now.
(April 16, 1918)
