Sparrows feeding their young. To pass a place where babies are playing. To sleep in a room where some fine incense has burnt. to notice that one's elegant Chinese mirror has become a little cloudy. To see a gentleman stop his carriage before one's gate and instruct his attendants to announced his arrival. To wash one's hair, make one's toilet and put on scented robes; even if not a soul sees one, these preparations still produce an inner pleasure.
It is night and one is expecting a visitor. Suddenly one is startled by the sound of rain-drops, which the wind blows against the shutters.
The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon (Japan, tenth century)
"There is a certain magical arbitrariness to list-making, as if sense were to be created by association alone."
Alberto Manguel, A Reading Diary
