The Narrative Line of Snow Country, Kawabata Yasunari
I. ARRIVAL AT THE SNOW COUNTRY HOT-SPRINGS, EARLY WINTER
Train station at night: 3-6
Shimamura, Yoko, Yukio (sick man), station master
- The train arrives at the hot-spring snow country train station
- Shimamura listens to Yoko speak with the station master
On the train, three hours earlier: 7-11
Shimamura, Yoko, Yukio
- Shimamura recalls Komako, when Yoko’s eye appears in the window/mirror
- Yoko is helping a sick man
At night (the present) at the train station: 11-12
Shimamura, Yoko, Yukio (sick man), station master
- His arrival at the train stations
At the Inn: 12-14
Shimamura, porter
- Shimamura speaks with the porter about the snow country and Komako
At the Inn: 14-16
Shimamura, Komako
- Shimamura meets with Komako
II. FLASHBACK TO VISIT DURING THE PREVIOUS LATE SPRING
At the Inn: 16-29
Shimamura, maid, Komako, later a young geisha
- Shimamura arrives and asks for geisha. They are all occupied, but Komako comes: 16-17
- She tells of her life: 18-19
- He asks for a geisha, which upsets her: 20-22
- On Komako: 22-24
- Shimamura’s interest in the arts, especially occidental (Western) dance: 24-26
- He asks again for a geisha: 28-30
- A teenage geisha arrives, and his desire dissolves: 28-29
In the cedar grove: 29-33
Shimamura and Komako
- He is seduced by the mountain, laughing: 29
- Komako speaks with Shimamura among cedars: 29-32
- On Komako: 32-33
10:00 at night, at Shimamura’s room: 33-38
Shimamura and Komako
- Komako comes to Shimamura’s room drunk: 33
- She leaves and returns an hour later: 33-37
- She finally leaves at dawn, and Shimamura returns to Tokyo: 38
III. RETURN TO VISIT DURING THE WINTER
At the inn: 39-48
Shimamura and Komako
- Komako, her diary, wasted effort, reading of literature: 39-45
- Komako at the window: 44-45
- They go to the bath: 45-46
- Komako and Shimamura back in his room: 46-48
In the village and Komako’s place: 48-62
Shimamura and Komako, and briefly Yoko
- Shimamura walking through the village: 48-51
- Komako joins him, and he speaks of Yoko: 51-53
- They go to Komako’s place in the attic that used to be a silkworm nursery: 53-56
- Yoko appears and leaves: 56-57
- Shimamura continues walking and hires a blind masseuse, and they talk of Komako and Yukio: 57-62
At night at the inn: 62-65
Shimamura and Komako
- Komako talks of the man from Hamamatsu: 62-64
The next morning at Shimamura’s room: 65-75
Shimamura and Komako
- Komako, who spent the night, speaks about her non-engagement with Yukio and Yoko: 65-68
- Yoko appears with the samisen, then leaves: 68-69
- Komako talks of her learning music and dance, and plays and sings: 69-75
Next day, at Shimamura’s: 75-76
Shimamura, Komako, and a little girl Kimi
- Komako is greeted by Kimi and they end up walking away after she talks with Shimamura: 75-76
At night, they go for a walk and return to his room: 77-79
Shimamura and Komako
- They go for a walk and return to his room, where she talks of going home and asks him to go back to Tokyo, and to stay: 77-79
Next afternoon, at inn: 79-85
Shimamura and Komako
- Shimamura is getting ready to leave for Tokyo: 79
- Shimamura and Komako go to the station, where Yoko appears to report Yukio has gotten worse. Komako refuses to go to him, and Yoko leaves. 80-85
Evening, the train departs: 85-87
Shimamura and two passengers
- The train heads off into the night, and Shimamura watches two passengers: 85-87
IV. SHIMAMURA’S VISIT IN AUTUMN
At night in the inn: 89-108
Shimamura, a peddler, innkeepers, Komako, geisha Kikuyu (subject of conversation)
- Moths and the cedar grove: 89-90
- Shimamura and a Russian woman peddler: 90-91
- Shimamura and the innkeepers: 91-92
- Komako arrives and talks with Shimamura of his failure to return earlier, of the death of the music teacher, and of the retiring geisha Kikuyu, of him not writing, of her changes, of her moving to live as a geisha at a shop, of the “one man” in her life, of her work: 93-108
Next day: 108-112
Shimamura, Komako, and briefly Yoko
- In his room, Shimamura asks Komako about Yoko: 108
- After Komako leaves, he goes for a walk in the village, sees Yoko but she does not see him: 109-110
- Back in his room with night growing, looking at insects: 110-112
Next day: 112-122
Shimamura, Komako, Yoko
- Komako is in his room when he wakes up, and they talk: 112-116
- They go for a walk to the cemetery: 116-119
- Yoko appears and after a while leaves: 119-122
3:00 am in Shimamura’s room: 123-126
Shimamura and Komako
- Komako comes in drunk: 123-126
Next day at the inn: 126-128
Shimamura, porter, Yoko
- Shimamura and the porter, and he sees Yoko at the inn: 126-128
Over many days: 128-134
- Komako’s habits over many days: 128-131
- Shimamura’s translations and watching of insects: 131-132
- Komako leaves; Yoko appears with note from Komako and leaves; Komako staggers in: 132-134
At night at Shimamura’s, then Komako’s, then back: 134-149
Shimamura, Yoko, and Komako
- Yoko comes to Shimamura with a note from Komako. She stays and talks about coming to Tokyo with Shimamura, Yukio, and Komako: 134-139
- Yoko is singing as she bath’s a girl: 139
- Komako appears. Shimamura and Komako walk, and talk of Yoko. The go to Komako’s place, and then she goes back with Shimamura: 140-145
- At Shimamura’s, they talk: 145-149
Next morning, at Shimamura’s: 149-150
Shimamura and Komako
- Shimamura wakes to Komako and the sound of Nō chanters: 149-150
Chijimi linen: 150-154
Shimamura
- Discussion of Chijimi linen and Shimamura’s chijimi kimono: 150-154
- Shimamura, alone in his room, reflects on himself. He hears two pines in tea kettle, and bell – and Komako enters. “The time to leave had come.” 154-155
- This was the earlier ending for the novel
- He travels to Chijimi country and another village and then returns to the hot spring: 156-160
Fire in the snow: 160-175
Shimamura, Komako, Yoko
- Shimamura, in a taxi returning to the hot spring, is joined by Komako: 160-162
- They hear cries of a fire in the cocoon warehouse and they head over there under the Milky Way: 162-172
- Yoko falls through the flames: 172-173
- Yoko lies on the ground, Komako goes to bring her out: 174-175
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