List No. 045

THE PILLOW BOOK

Sei Sho¯nagon

Circa 996

Born circa 966, Sei Sho_nagon was a Japanese court lady responsible for writing The Pillow Book, a truly wonderful collection of hundreds of observational notes that paint a vivid, amusing and often touching picture of life in 11th-century Japan. Much of the book is written in list form, with headings such as “Pleasing things”, “Infuriating things”, “Things it’s frustrating and embarrassing to witness”, and those seen here.

Rare Things

A son-in-law who’s praised by his wife’s father. Likewise, a wife who’s loved by her mother-in-law.

A pair of silver tweezers that can actually pull out hairs properly.

A retainer who doesn’t speak ill of his master.

A person who is without a single quirk. Someone who’s superior in both appearance and character, and who’s remained utterly blameless throughout his long dealings with the world.

You never find an instance of two people living together who continue to be overawed by each other’s excellence and always treat each other with scrupulous care and respect, so such a relationship is obviously a great rarity.

Copying out a tale or a volume of poems without smearing any ink on the book you’re copying from. If you’re copying it from some beautiful bound book, you try to take immense care, but somehow you always manage to get ink on it.

Two women, let alone a man and a woman, who vow themselves to each other forever, and actually manage to remain on good terms to the end.

Things that should be small

Thread for sewing something in a hurry. The hair of women in the lower classes. The voice of someone’s daughter. Lampstands.

Things now useless that recall a glorious past

A fine embroidery-edged mat that’s become threadbare.

A screen painted in the Chinese style, that’s now turned dark and discoloured and developed a scarred surface.

A painter with poor eyesight.

A switch of false hair seven or eight feet long, that’s now fading and taking on a reddish tinge.

Grape-coloured fabric when the ash dye has turned.

A man who was a great lover in his day but is now old and decrepit.

A tasteful house whose garden trees have been destroyed by fire. The pond is still there, but it’s now uncared for and thick with pond weed.

Repulsive things

The back of a piece of sewing. Hairless baby mice tumbled out of their nest. The seams of a leather robe before the lining’s been added. The inside of a cat’s ear. A rather dirty place in darkness.