Excerpts from The Tattooer by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki.

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In

the picture she discovered her secret self.

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In this picture the girl felt that she had found something long hidden in the darkness of her own heart.

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Just as the ancient Egyptians had embellished their magnificent land with pyramids and sphinxes, he was about to embellish the pure skin of this girl.

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Little by little the tattoo marks began to take on the form of a huge black-widow spider; and by the time the night sky was paling into dawn this weird, malevolent creature had stretched its eight legs to embrace the whole of the girl's back.

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This work of art had been the supreme effort of his life. Now that he had finished it his heart was drained of emotion.

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With each shuddering breath, the spider's legs stirred as if they were alive.