Excerpt from Quicksand by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki.

Excerpt from

Chapter 7.

May 6, from Mrs. Kakiuchi Sonoko to Mitsuko.

Dearest Mitsu,

Drip-drop, drip-drop . . . Tonight the gentle spring rain is falling. As I listen to it drenching the paulownia flowers outside my window, I sit here quietly at my desk in the glow of that red lampshade that you crocheted for me. Somehow it’s a gloomy evening, but when I strain to hear the raindrops run from the eaves I can’t help imagining that they’re whispering softly to me: Drip-drop, drip-drop . . . What can they be whispering? Drip-drop, drip-drop . . . Ah, yes! Mitsuko, Mitsuko, Mitsuko . . . They’re calling the name of the one I love. Tokumitsu, Tokumitsu . . . Before I knew it, I’d taken up my pen and was writing your name over and over on the fingertips of my left hand . . .