Summary of Kajii Motojirō’s “Lemon”
The narrator suffered from a lung illness, nervous weakness, and debt.
However, the greatest pain was not these problems.
It was a dark and vague weight in his heart, a constant fear and sadness.
He lost interest in music and poetry, which he once loved.
Even Maruzen, the bookstore in Kyoto he often visited, felt heavy because it reminded him of his debts.
He lived a transient life, moving from one friend’s lodging to another, and walked the streets of Kyoto every day.
One morning, he found his favorite fruit, a lemon, at a shop on Teramachi Street.
He bought it, and at that moment, the dark weight on his heart strangely loosened.
For the first time in a long while, he felt happiness.The weight, the cool touch, and the smell of the lemon were exactly what he had long desired.
Wrapped in this joy, he visited Maruzen again.
However, inside the store, the heavy mood returned.
Even picking up art books felt too hard.
Still, he piled several art books together like a small castle.
On top, he placed the lemon.
Its bright yellow stood out against the colors of the books.
Suddenly, he had an idea.
He would leave the lemon there and walk out, pretending nothing had happened.
He imagined the lemon as a bomb that would explode.
If it blew apart the heavy mood of Maruzen into pieces, how exciting that would be.
With that thought, he left the store and walked down Shinkyōgoku Street.