Short Stories with Sajad

In this episode we read a short story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1892–1927) who is widely celebrated as the "Father of the Japanese short story" and a towering figure of modern Japanese literature. Renowned for his sharp psychological insight, dark wit, and razor-sharp prose, Akutagawa specialized in reinterpreting ancient historical and religious folklore through a deeply modern, skeptical lens. His immense impact on world literature is cemented by Japan’s most prestigious literary honor, the Akutagawa Prize, which continues to celebrate the country's finest emerging writers.First published in 1918 in the children's literary magazine Akai Tori, "The Spider's Thread" (Kumo no Ito) is one of his most enduring and beautifully haunting masterpieces. The story blends traditional Buddhist imagery with a tense psychological drama, following a ruthless criminal named Kandata who is offered a single, fragile chance at escaping Hell via a silver spider's thread lowered by the Buddha. Deceptively simple on the surface, Akutagawa uses this brief fable to deliver a powerful, timeless critique of human egoism, the instinct for survival, and the cold mechanics of absolute salvation.

In this episode, we read a short story named "The Man Who Had No Lips" by Ahmad Shamlou. It's originally written in Farsi but I've tried to translate it to English while keeping the rhythmic flow. It's about a guy named Hossein Gholi who's got a pretty normal life, except for the fact that he doesn't have lips to smile with and that makes him unhappy. Hossein Gholi sets on a journey to find himself a pair of lips just so that he can smile for an hour or two and be happy, but eventually he has to face a different reality. A reality that teaches him and us an important lesson. About the author: Shamlou worked tirelessly to build bridges between Iranian culture and the rest of the world. He translated iconic global authors into Persian, including the poetry of Federico García Lorca and Langston Hughes, and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince. At the same time, he was deeply committed to preserving the culture of everyday Iranians. He spent decades compiling Ketab-e Koucheh (The Book of the Alley), a massive, multi-volume encyclopedia dedicated entirely to Iranian street slang, proverbs, folklore, and beliefs. Shamlou's work seamlessly shifted between fierce political resistance, social criticism and profound romantic intimacy. An unyielding humanist, he was a vocal critic of tyranny and spent time in prison under the Shah (before the 1979 Revolution) and faced heavy censorship after the 1979 Revolution. "The allied occupation of Iran, towards the end of the second world war, inspired Shamlou's first patriotic poems. At 18, he was held in an allied prison for a year, for distributing anti-occupation pamphlets. Shortly after his release, he was arrested again, together with his father, by the separatist local government of Azerbaijan. They were left waiting for execution in front of a firing squad for hours before being freed" (TheGuardian).

In this episode, I read an English translation of one of Sadegh Hedayat's most famous short stories, The Stray Dog (translated by me). It tells the story of a dog named Paat who loses his owner (master) near the square of Varamin in Tehran, and the consequences that follow. Simultaneously, it also explores Paat's past. This story was published in 1942. Sadegh Hedayat was an Iranian writer, translator, satirist, and poet. He was born on February 17, 1903 in Tehran, Iran. Writing during a time of intense cultural transition in the early twentieth century, Hedayat injected a raw, Kafkaesque existentialism into the heart of Iranian fiction. His stories are psychological autopsies, masterfully uncovering the deep alienation of the human condition, the blurring lines between nightmare and reality, and a profound disillusionment with the modern world. He died by suicide on April 9, 1951, in Paris, France. He was 48 years old at the time of his death.

This is a brief introduction to this podcast and the person behind it. What is Short Stories with Sajad about, and who's Sajad? If this short introduction interests you, there is more information in the podcast description! Does this tingle your curiosity? Then I'll see you next week, on Tuesday 14:00 CET!