Suitcase by Kōbō Abe. Short summary

5 seconds

A woman shows her guest her husband’s suitcase, from which unintelligible noises are heard. The friend suggests opening the lock with a pin. Here the suitcase is opened, but the woman is not ready to learn about its contents.

1 minute

A woman and her guest are sitting at the table in the room. The woman is newly married, her friend is still single. Both of them are smiling and chatting. Suddenly the woman asks her friend to help her with a problem. She runs out the door and returns with a big old suitcase (the role of the suitcase is played by a man). The guest looks at the suitcase with curiosity.

The woman tells him that it is her husband’s suitcase. The man does not say what is inside, but her curiosity gnaws at her. Suddenly, unintelligible sounds can be heard from the suitcase — scratching of some animal or muttering. She says the sounds are constant.

Her friend suggests opening the lock with the help of pins. The woman hesitates, but agrees. The guest fiddles with the locks for a long time, they do not respond. The woman no longer wants to open the suitcase — what if there are spiders, cockroaches or other disgusting things inside. The friends quarrel, the guest leaves. There is a click, the lock is opened. The woman stands hesitantly by the suitcase, latches the lock and takes the suitcase back to her place.