Abundant Sea

Author: Yukio Mishima
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-01-01
Features: The ultra-long series "The Sea of Fertility" (1965–1970), a tetralogy comprising "Spring Snow," "Runaway Horse," "The Sound of the Wind," and "The Gods' Five Decay," serves as Yukio Mishima's final masterpiece. It elevates his romantic, aesthetic, and classical ideals to their utmost perfection, marking the end of his literary career. The first novel in the series, "Spring Snow," depicts the tragic love story and death of Matsuba Kiyokane, embodying the pinnacle of artistic beauty in Mishima's literature. Kawabata Yasunari hailed "Spring Snow" as a modern "The Tale of Genji," calling it the "sublimation of the author's brilliant talent." Mishima himself once summarized: "Spring Snow is a romance novel in the style of the Heian period, that is, it writes about the so-called 'gentle and delicate' or 'Japanese spirit.'" Matsuba Kiyokane was originally from a samurai family that had fallen into decline, and his father left him in the care of the Count of Ayato. At the age of 18, he fell in love with the Count's daughter, Akiko, but his indecisiveness and lack of courage to accept her proposal. After Akiko was granted in marriage to Prince Tadayoshi of the by the Emperor, she maintained contact with Kiyokane through the old servant, Shikko. However, Kiyokane had a physical relationship with her and made her pregnant. Meanwhile, Shikko, who had an ambiguous relationship with her master, the Count of Ayato, followed the Count's wishes and incited Akiko to exact an elegant revenge on Matsuba as a virgin. With the help of his classmate at Tokyo Imperial University, Honda Koji, Kiyokane continued to meet with Akiko in secret. When the Count discovered Akiko's pregnancy, fearing exposure, he sent her to Nara's Gekokan Temple to hide. Akiko privately shaved her head and became a nun in the temple, which was considered an offense against the Emperor. Consequently, both the Matsuba and Ayato families were in turmoil, obtaining a false medical certificate to deceive the Emperor. With Honda's assistance, Kiyokane traveled to Gekokan Temple to meet Akiko but was rejected. Overwhelmed by exhaustion, he had a dream on his train ride back to Tokyo, the last dream of his life. Upon waking, he murmured, "We will meet again. We will meet again, under the waterfall." The next day after returning to Tokyo, Kiyokane left this world at the age of 20. The second novel, "Runaway Horse," depicts the political activities and suicide of Iinuma Isamu, reborn as Matsuba Kiyokane. The third novel, "The Sound of the Wind," tells the love story between Honda, who witnessed Matsuba Kiyokane and Iinuma Isamu's suicide, and a Thai princess reborn as a Japanese. The princess later returned to her homeland and was bitten to death by a cobra. The fourth novel, "The Gods' Five Decay," portrays Ayumu Tohru, adopted as Honda's foster child, who discovers that he is merely a reincarnation and cannot freely choose his fate. He takes poison but survives, only to lose his sight.