A Silver-Grey Death and Drowning

<p><strong><em>A Silver-Grey Death</em></strong> (????? in Chinese) and <strong><em>Drowning</em></strong> (??) both by Yu Dafu (???) are short stories written and published in 1920 and 1921 respectively. Both tell the story of a young man a Chinese national living and studying in Japan in the early 20<sup>th</sup> century. Both are based (in part) on experiences in the author?s life.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Yu Dafu</strong> is perhaps unique among Chinese writers of the period as an author of decadence - in the literary sense and in ways that should interest (if not please) Western readers. In both stories are themes of loneliness desire (for the opposite sex) frustration heavy drinking and (in at least one of the stories if not both): death. Both are succinct in their descriptions and both are beautifully written sometimes hauntingly so. The narratives move at a clip.</p><p><br></p><p><em>Drowning</em> is<em> </em>hands-down Yu Dafu?s best-known work (in the West and in the East). It is the story of a young Chinese national who leaves his motherland China to study abroad in Japan. A loner by temperament he soon finds himself feeling pitifully lonely... A self-styled poet he recurs to nature taking long walks in the countryside outside Nagoya. But dwelling frequently in nature and reading books all alone only go so far for a young man who regularly practices onanism in his room immediately regrets it fantasizes about his landlord?s daughter and is sexually attracted to just about every girl he meets. It is only a matter of time before he finds himself in a Japanese tavern where a young Geisha girl with bad breath serves him too much sake. You can imagine the rest or you can read the story.</p>