V etot sbornik voshli kak prinesshiye Akutagave mirovuyu slavu i avtomaticheski assotsiiruyushchiyesya s yego imenem istoricheskiye rasskazy i novelly (vklyuchaya legendarnuyu "V chashche", posluzhivshuyu osnovoy dlya stsenariya bessmertnogo fil'ma "Rasomon" Kurosavy), tak i meneye izvestnyye zapadnomu chitatelyu, no pochitayushchiyesya na rodine avtora yeshche vyshe rasskazy, deystviye kotorykh proiskhodit na fone sovremennoy avtoru real'nosti Yaponii nachala XX veka, yeshche sokhranyayushchey ...