“This was at a time when people considered frivolity for virtue, and life was not yet overshadowed, as in our days, by severe adversities. It was an age of idleness ... ”People went to great lengths for the sake of beauty, not stopping to cover their bodies with tattoos. Among the lovers of such jewelry were not only porters, players and firefighters, but also wealthy citizens, and sometimes samurai. In those days there lived a young tattoo artist named Seikiti. When tattoos were held, many of his works aroused widespread admiration. Before Seikiti was an artist, this was felt in the sophistication of his drawing, in a special sense of harmony. He agreed to get tattoos by no means everyone, those who received this honor should have completely trusted the master, who himself chose the pattern and set the price. Then he worked for a month or two, enjoying the moans and cramps of the unfortunate man into which he thrust his needles. He received the greatest pleasure from the most painful procedures - applying retouching and impregnation with cinnabar. People who were silently suffering pain caused him irritation, and he tried to break their courage. For many years, Seikiti cherished the dream of creating a masterpiece on the skin of a beautiful woman and putting her whole soul into it.Most important for him was the character of a woman - a beautiful face and a slender figure were not enough for him. In the fourth year of his search, he once saw a naked female leg peeking out of a palanquin that he was waiting at the gates of a restaurant in Fukagawa, not far from his house. Seikiti's sharp gaze could tell the leg no less than her face. Seikiti went for a palanquin, hoping to see the face of the stranger, but after a while he lost sight of the palanquin. A year after this meeting, a girl with an assignment from a familiar geisha once came to Seikiti. The girl was preparing as a geisha and was supposed to be the "younger sister" of a friend of Seikiti. The girl was fifteen to sixteen years old, but her face was marked by mature beauty. Looking at her graceful legs, Seikiti asked if she had happened to leave the Hirasei restaurant in a palanquin a year ago. The girl replied that her father often took her with him to Hirasei, and this is quite possible. Seikiti invited the girl to his place and showed her two paintings. One of them depicted a Chinese princess looking at preparations for execution in the palace garden. As soon as the girl looked at the picture, her face acquired a resemblance to the face of a princess. In the picture, she found her hidden "I". The second picture was called "Tlen." The woman depicted in the center of the picture looked joyfully and proudly at the numerous corpses of men spread out at her feet. Looking at the picture, the girl felt how she revealed that secret that was hidden in the depths of her soul.
The girl was scared, she asked Seikiti to let her go, but he, having lulled her with chloroform, set to work."The soul of a young tattoo artist was dissolved in a thick paint and seemed to pass onto the skin of a girl. Sticking and pulling out the needles, Seikiti sighed as if each prick wounded his own heart. He worked all night, and by morning a huge spider appeared on the back of the girl. With each deep breath and strong exhalation, the spider's legs moved like alive. The spider held the girl tightly in his arms. Seikiti told the girl that he put his whole soul into the tattoo. Now in Japan there is no woman who could compare with her. All men will turn to mud at her feet. The girl was very happy that she had become so beautiful. Hearing that she needed to take a bath in order for the colors to show better, she, overcoming the pain, obediently went to the bathroom, and, leaving, wriggling in pain and groaning, as if possessed, threw herself on the floor. But soon she regained consciousness and her eyes became clear. Seikiti was amazed at the change in her. He gave her paintings that frightened her the day before. She said she completely got rid of her fears, and Seikiti was the first to become dirt at her feet. Her eyes flashed like a blade. She could hear the peals of the victorious anthem. Seikiti asked her to show the tattoo again before leaving. She silently threw off her kimono. "The rays of the morning sun fell on the tattoo, and the woman's back flashed in flames."
