腕くらべ

A man attending the theater unexpectedly meets a woman he had known years earlier as a young performer, and the encounter triggers a flood of memories about earlier amusements and shifting affections. The narrative traces their brief reunion amid a network of patrons, hostesses, and entertainers in urban pleasure quarters. Through episodic scenes in corridors, tea rooms, and small establishments, the story considers nostalgia, social maneuvering, and the transactional mix of fondness and convenience in adult relationships. The prose contrasts youthful innocence with later worldly calculation while quietly observing manners, money, and routine intimacy in city life.