走れメロス

A young shepherd named Melos, condemned by a tyrant king, is given three days to go home for his sister's wedding while his friend Selinuntius waits in his place as hostage. Dazai Osamu's short story of 1940, adapted from Schiller's ballad, follows his race back through flood and bandits to keep his word. This book uses the racial and other slurs of its period as written; the Book Guide explains these words where they occur.

Summary written with Claude Sonnet 5.5.