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nydus/Short FictionPublic

A collection of short fiction by Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, ordered by date of publication.

Page 57 of 155
Table of Contents

II

sure to want to scratch. Then, when the whole body is bitten all over, one wants to scratch all over the whole body, too. But man is wonderfully made, so that while he scratches where he feels himself itch, the scratched places naturally get warm as with a fever. Then, when he is warm, he gets sleepy. When he is sleepy, he no longer feels the itch. In this way, if one but have many lice on one’s body, one falls asleep easily and catches no colds. Wherefore, we should by all means keep lice and by no means kill them out.

“Sure enough, it’s like that, ain’t it?” said several of his fellows approvingly when they had heard Mori’s argument.

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