Hateful things

from The Pillow Book

Hateful things

One is in a hurry to leave, and a visitor arrives who talks on and on. A person who interrupts a story to say that they already know it. Someone who reads a letter that was not meant for them. A dog that barks at a guest one is trying to keep secret.

Annoying things

A person who does not answer a letter, and then complains of being forgotten. One who sighs loudly and will not say why. A mosquito, thin and whining, that announces itself at the ear in the dark.

This text is one of the sources behind Sei Shōnagon, one of the voices you can reflect with.

All chapters in The Pillow Book

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