The Siren’s Lament Quotes

“At a certain time, the father of this prince had served at the imperial court in Beijing, where his talents had won for him the favour of the Qianlong Emperor as well as the envy of his peers. His reward was a vast fortune that ostracized him from society, and later, when his only son was yet in his infancy, he quit this world entirely. Ashort while thereafter, the boy's mother followed in the footsteps of the father, and so the Prince, having been left an orphan, found himself quite naturally the sole heir to this veritable mountain of gold, silver and precious stones.”
― Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, The Siren’s Lament: Essential Stories

“The people here had grown emaciated with hunger and toil, and the walls of their houses sighed with grief and sorrow. All the lovely flowers of this land had been transplanted to the palace to delight the eyes of the sovereign's consort, while the plump boars had been taken and served to please her sophisticated tastes. And so, the tranquil spring sun shone in vain on the grey, deserted streets of the city. And, perched atop a hill in the centre, the palace, shining with the five colours of the rainbow, towered over the corpse of the capital like a beast of prey.”
― Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, The Siren’s Lament: Essential Stories

“As he struck her, he felt his chest suffocating under waves of desperate sadness, like a child abandoned by its parents.”
― Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, The Siren’s Lament: Essential Stories