The Garden by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. Short summary

5 seconds

A beautiful garden is falling into disrepair. A man is restoring it with his young nephew. But after his death, no one wants the cozy place.

1 minute

The Nakamura family’s garden gradually falls into disrepair. Beautiful gazebos deteriorate, waterfalls become overgrown with grass, trees stop blooming.

The owner and his wife live in a large house. The eldest son and his wife live in a small weathervane. After the death of the head of the family, the man and his family move in with his mother. The outhouse is rented to the director of the local school. He convinces the owners to restore the beautiful garden. They planted fruit trees, but the whole place looks even emptier.

After the death of the eldest son and his wife, the grandmother and child are left in the house. The prodigal child, the middle brother, returns. He is gravely ill and sees no meaning in life. But at some point, he turns his attention to the garden and dreams of getting it back to its former state.

The invalid together with his nephew restore order. But after expending his last strength, the man dies. The grandmother also dies and the younger son disappears into obscurity. No one remembers about the garden. And the only boy in the family, who has become an artist, draws beautiful landscapes from his childhood.