Rashomon by ryunosuke akutagawa summary meaning

A man travelling to Wakasa walks with his wife who rides horseback, when a gust of wind unveils her beautiful Bodhisattva-like face to a bystander — the notorious brigand Tajomaru — who instantly falls in love. Tajomaru deceives them with a promise of inexpensive treasures buried in a nearby mound. They follow him to a row of cedars, where Tajomaru ties the man to a root and gags him with bamboo leaves.

Rashomon effect

The woman asserts that one of the men must die and the other can be her husband. Here, the story diverges into three different accounts of how her husband dies: Tajomaru says he unties the man and wins a duel against him, but the wife vanishes. By her account, Tajomaru disappears and she kills her husband out of honor. She then attempts to commit suicide.

The husband asserts that he kills himself after Tajomaru mercifully unbinds him. He has been let go in the wake of many recent disasters that have struck the city. He slowly comes to understand that he is left with only two choices: to become a thief or die. He sees a light in the tower and follows it, frightened.