Hard Talents and Soft Talents
In this brief, affectionate sketch, Akutagawa Ryunosuke contrasts two gifted friends: the forceful Sasaki and the gentler Kojima. He recalls Sasaki’s formidable temper, Kojima’s less imaginable belligerence, and the wide learning both men possess. The portrait ends not with literary judgment but with a warmly comic vision of their old age—one bearded, the other wearing a full set of dentures, both complaining about the younger generation. Written while Akutagawa was ill at Yugawara, the thought of their vitality and longevity gives him a rare moment of brightness amid unhappy days.
Sasaki is a man of forceful talent, while Kojima is a man of gentle talent; in any case, both are men of talent. Once, when I was walking with Sasaki, I saw the vigor with which he gave a tongue-lashing to a man who had bumped into you, and I was more than a little astonished. Indeed, Sasaki’s vehemence at that moment was such that I almost took him for a descendant of the Mongol ruler who shares your surname. Kojima, too, is a true son of Edo, so he seems quite adept at delivering a cutting tirade. Yet somehow I find it hard to picture Kojima actually in a fight. Both men are also diligent students. Sasaki was here two or three days ago, and during his stay he spoke of a play by some fellow named Pirandello and of Sarah Bernhardt’s memoirs, greatly enlightening me. Kojima, too, is a well-read man versed in the learning of Japan and China, East and West. I think this can be seen even more clearly in Kojima’s fairy tales than in his novels. Finally, both are blessed with robust health—though perhaps I feel this especially keenly because I am ill—and they have the look of men destined for long lives. When the two of them eventually grow old, I imagine Sasaki will have grown a beard on his chin, while Kojima will be wearing a full set of dentures, and they will sit together saying things like, “Young people these days…” The thought of it leaves me feeling a little brighter, even as I pass my days unhappily. (At Yugawara)