Thieves

In the old capital, two young brothers survive among thieves, beggars, and abandoned corpses. Tarō and Jirō share danger and poverty, but their attachment to Shakin draws them into a rivalry neither can control. Around them, an old man, an old woman, and the disabled servant Akogi struggle within the same violent household.

A robbery promises escape from hunger. Instead, desire and suspicion drive the brothers toward Rashōmon, where the dead lie beneath the moon and loyalties are tested in darkness. Human cruelty and the suffering of animals become inseparable from the question of whether compassion can survive such a life.

Akutagawa Ryūnosuke (1892–1927) published Thieves in 1917. This complete translation preserves its nine sections, embedded songs, unsettling moral arguments, and unresolved closing report, offering a sustained encounter with one of the author’s darkest explorations of love and survival.