Excerpts from The Two Acolytes by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki.

Part

2 of 5.

“If the world outside is an illusion, then women must be beautiful illusions too. And because they’re illusions, ordinary, unenlightened men are led astray, like travelers in deep mountain country who get lost in the mists.”

...

Women may be just a sort of mirage, like a rainbow in the empty sky. But fools like me have to go right into the clouds to see for themselves that the rainbow is unreal;

...

My mind is chained in darkness, yours isn’t. We’re as different as charcoal and snow. You’re as pure as crystal; there’s no need for you to test your faith in ways that put you in danger.