The Death of a Christian by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. Short summary

5 seconds

A young monk was accused of adultery and kicked out of the temple. But he did the noble deed of giving his life for another man’s child. And everyone learned that he could not have committed this crime. Because he really was a girl.

1 minute

On Christmas night, an emaciated young man named Lorenzo appeared outside the temple. The boy was admitted to the service and for three years he was an example to all. Lorenzo should have been allowed to become a monk, but an umbrella merchant’s daughter claimed they were lovers. Rumors swirled, but Lorenzo denied it.

The girl reported that she was pregnant. And Lorenzo was shamefully banished from the temple. But he made no excuses, but left in silence. And continued to pray every day.

A year later there was a terrible fire. In the fire burned also the girl who had been born to the merchant’s dot. Lorenzo ran into the house, rescued the child, threw him at his mother’s feet and was crushed by a burning beam. Everyone began to whisper that it was God who had punished him for his adultery and lies.

But the mother confessed that the child was not the young man’s child. Suddenly everyone noticed that Lorenzo actually looked like an angel. And the shirt on his chest unbuttoned, and everyone saw that it was a woman. Not guilty of anything except believing in God so much that she lied about who she really was.