The Pillow Book, by Sei Shōnagon
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Excerpts from The Pillow Book posted every day. Bot created by @thejasonkelley.com via https://bluebotsdonequick.com/
How can anyone be so simple as to believe that he is free to find fault with others while his own foibles are passed over in silence? Yet when someone hears that he has been discussed unfavorably he is always outraged, and this I find most unattractive.
It is absurd of people to get angry because one has gossiped about them.
How I should have liked to stop my carriage, pick them both up, and take them along!
Oxen should have very small foreheads with white hair; their underbellies, the ends of their legs, and the tips of their tails should also be white.
It was a clear, moonlit night a little after the tenth of the Eighth Month. Her Majesty, who was residing in the Empress’s Office, sat by the edge of the veranda while Ukon no Naishi played the flute for her.
One has sent a friend a verse that turned out fairly well. How depressing when there is no reply-poem!
I imagine that there can be nothing so delightful as to be loved by everyone – one’s parents, one’s master, and all the people with whom one is on close terms.
I love white, purple, and black clouds, and rain clouds when they are driven by the wind. It is charming at dawn to see the dark clouds gradually turn white. I believe this has been described in a Chinese poem that says something about “the tints that leave at dawn”.
Parents, convinced that their ugly child is adorable, pet him and repeat the things he has said, imitating his voice.
Shaved ice mixed with liana syrup and put in a new silver bowl.
It was a clear, moonlit night a little after the tenth of the Eighth Month. Her Majesty, who was residing in the Empress’s Office, sat by the edge of the veranda while Ukon no Naishi played the flute for her.
To hear one’s servants making merry. This is equally annoying if one is on a journey and staying in cramped quarters or at home and hears the servants in a neighboring room.
Horses as well as oxen should be large.
What lucky women, I thought, who could walk about the Nine-Fold Enclosure as though they had lived there all their lives! Just then the escorts passed close to my carriage – remarkably close, in fact, considering the vastness of the Palace grounds – and I could actually see the texture of their
Men really have strange emotions and behave in the most bizarre ways. Sometimes a man will leave a very pretty woman to marry an ugly one.
when there is no snow or frost, but it is simply very cold and the attendants hurry from room to room stirring up the fires and bringing charcoal, how well this fits the season’s mood!
Last year’s paper fan. A night with a clear moon.
It is beautiful indeed when snow has fallen during the night, but splendid too when the ground is white with frost
How I should have liked to stop my carriage, pick them both up, and take them along!
Even in the case of love poems, people should at least answer that they were moved at receiving the message, or something of the sort; otherwise they will cause the keenest disappointment.
Round braziers. Winter cherries. Pine trees. The petals of yellow roses.
An ox-driver who hates his oxen.
Priests. Fruit. Houses. Provision bags. Inksticks for inkstones.
Wisteria blossoms. Plum blossoms covered with snow.
Wisteria blossoms. Plum blossoms covered with snow.
It is beautiful indeed when snow has fallen during the night, but splendid too when the ground is white with frost
To sleep in a room where some fine incense has been burnt.
Priests. Fruit. Houses. Provision bags. Inksticks for inkstones.
Oxen should have very small foreheads with white hair; their underbellies, the ends of their legs, and the tips of their tails should also be white.