
Produced by Sachiko Hill and Kaoru Tanaka. (This file was produced from images generously made available by Kindai Digital Library)
The story plunges you into a blistering march along a barren road, where a relentless sun beats down like a furnace and the heat seems to seep into bone. A nameless legion, silent as the dead, pursues a fleeing force, their footsteps crushing dust while the narrator trudges onward without rest, each breath a battle against the sweltering air. Shadows are absent, the landscape reduced to a blood‑red glare that blurs the line between reality and fevered illusion.
Amid the clatter of iron wheels and the distant crack of gunfire, ghostly silhouettes drift past, some frozen like statues, others collapsing in silent surrender. The narrator’s eyes, half‑closed to escape the glare, glimpse strange, unnamable shapes hovering over the scorching stones, as if the world itself were melting into a nightmare. The relentless march, the oppressive heat, and the uncanny silence together create a nightmarish tableau that grips the listener from the very first step.
Language
ja
Duration
~2 hours (128K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Sachiko Hill and Kaoru Tanaka
Release date
2010-10-01
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1871–1919
A master of dark, intense fiction, this Russian writer brought psychological tension and a powerful sense of dread to stories and plays that still feel startlingly modern. His work helped bridge realism and early expressionism, making him one of the most distinctive voices of Russia’s Silver Age.
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