The Stream’s Flow

A writer preparing a collection of his earlier fiction discovers that he can scarcely bear the person he once made of himself. The stories depict a secret love for a woman called Y.; his memories insist instead on irritation, contempt, and the gaudy household where they once shared neighboring desks.

Present encounters unsettle that certainty. Y. remembers a promise he denies making, speaks lightly of marriage and dependence, and draws him into a new arrangement whose practical demands expose his jealousy. Their conversations turn affection into mockery and principle into self-interest, until even the clothes he wears become part of a troubling intimacy.

First published in 1928, Makino Shin’ichi’s story examines the slippery passage between remembered experience, fictional self-portrait, and desire. This complete English translation preserves both sections, the writer’s repeated reversals, and the final scene before an arranged marriage meeting. Twenty-two notes explain cultural references, theater, clothing, literary allusions, and selected textual uncertainties.