Sometimes a couple of commoners will pass in a carriage with the rear blinds slightly raised. As the oxen trot along, one has a pleasant sense of freshness.

I like page-boys to be small. They should have beautiful hair that hangs loosely, lightly touching their necks. Their voices must be attractive and their speech respectful; for these are the marks of an adept page.

I like horses to be chestnut, piebald, dapple-grey, or black roan, with white patches near their shoulders and feet; I also like horses with light chestnut coats and extremely white manes and tails – so white, indeed, that their hair looks like mulberry threads.

I am most pleased when I hear someone I love being praised or being mentioned approvingly by an important person.

Sometimes a couple of commoners will pass in a carriage with the rear blinds slightly raised. As the oxen trot along, one has a pleasant sense of freshness.

Especially delightful is the first day of the First Month, when the mists so often shroud the sky. Everyone pays great attention to his appearance and dresses with the utmost care. What a pleasure it is to see them all offer their congratulations to the Emperor and celebrate their own new year!

How I should have liked to stop my carriage, pick them both up, and take them along!

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!

A lamp strand.

A lying-in room when the baby has died.

A woman with ugly hair wearing a robe of white damask.

In the Seventh Month, when there are fierce winds and heavy showers, it is quite cool and one does not bother to carry a fan. On such days I find it pleasant to take a nap, having covered myself with some clothing that gives off a faint smell of perspiration.

The objects used during the Display of Dolls.

To see a gentleman stop his carriage before one’s gate and instruct his attendants to announce his arrival.

I am more pleased when something nice happens to a person I love than when it happens to myself.

Parents, convinced that their ugly child is adorable, pet him and repeat the things he has said, imitating his voice.

The other ladies in attendance sat together, talking and laughing; but I stayed by myself, leaning against one of the pillars between the main hall and the veranda.

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.

I also noticed a young boy of about ten, with long, attractive hair hanging loosely down his back, and a child of about five whose hair was piled up under his jacket and whose cheeks were plump and rosy. The child held a funny little bow and a stick of some sort. It was quite adorable.

No doubt she was thinking of recent conversations when I had remarked in her hearing, “If I do not come first in people’s affections, I had just soon not be loved at all; in fact I would rather be hated or even maltreated. It is better to be dead than to be loved in second or third place.”

One of the bowmen is an archery contest stands trembling for a long time before shooting; when finally he does release his arrow, it goes in the wrong direction.

The other ladies in attendance sat together, talking and laughing; but I stayed by myself, leaning against one of the pillars between the main hall and the veranda.

Ugly handwriting on red paper.

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”.

In autumn the evenings, when the glittering sun sinks close to the edge of the hills and the crows fly back to their nests in threes and fours and twos; more charming still is a file of wild geese, like specks in the distant sky.

indifferent and went to see another woman instead. Everyone, even people who were not directly concerned, felt indignant about this callous behavior, and the woman’s family was much grieved. The man himself, however, showed not the slightest pity.

I remember a certain woman who was both attractive and good-natured and who furthermore had excellent hand-writing. Yet when she sent a beautifully written poem to the man of her choice, he replied with some pretentious jottings and did not even bother to visit her. She wept endearingly, but he was

To have spoken about someone not knowing the he could overhear. This is embarrassing even if it be a servant or some other completely insignificant person.

One of the bowmen is an archery contest stands trembling for a long time before shooting; when finally he does release his arrow, it goes in the wrong direction.

A letter arrives from the provinces, but no gift accompanies it. It would be bad enough if such a letter reached one in the provinces from someone in the capital; but then at least it would have interesting news about goings-on in society, and that would be a consolation.