The siren's lament

A new selection and translation of short stories by a hugely prominent classic Japanese writer, filled with eroticism and fantasy. The sage Confucius travels to a kingdom ruled by a struggling duke, whose pursuit of virtue is threatened by his consort's desire for pleasure. A naive servant elopes with his master's daughter, only to be plunged headlong into a world of murder and corruption. Exhausted by a lifestyle of never-ending debauchery, a young prince finds himself in possession of a dazzling, beguiling mermaid.