THE HATEFUL THINGS, No. 2
The following selected quotations are from the chapter “Hatefull Things” in the Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon:
“I am ready to go home. But the visitor does not stop talking, goes on and on. If it is someone of no importance, one can get rid of him by saying, “You must tell me all about it next time.” But, should it be the sort of visitor whose presence commands one’s best behavior, the situation is hateful indeed.!”
“A man who has nothing in particular to recommend him discusses all sorts of subjects at random as though he knew everything. I hate him.”
“To envy others and complain about one’s own lot or to speak badly about people or to be inquisitive about the most trivial matters and to resent and abuse people for not telling one, or, if one does manage to worm out some facts, to inform everyone in the most detailed fashion as if one had known all from the beginning—oh, how hateful!”
“I am in the middle of listening to a good story when someone butts in and tries to show that he is the only clever person in the room. Such a person is hateful, and so, indeed, is anyone who tries to push himself forward.”
“I am telling a story about old times when someone breaks in with a little detail that he happens to know, implying that my version is inaccurate—disgusting behavior!”
“Some children have called at my house. I make a great fuss of them and give them toys to play with. The children become accustomed to this treatment and start to come regularly, forcing their way into my private rooms and scattering my furnishings and possessions. Hateful!”
“A certain gentleman whom one does not wish to visit me at home nor in the Palace where I work. I pretend to be resting. But a servant comes to tell me and shakes me awake from my fake nap with a look on her face that says, ‘What a sleepyhead!’ Very hateful.”
“A newcomer pushes ahead of the other members in a group; with a knowing look, this person starts laying down the law and forcing advice upon everyone—most hateful.”
“A man with whom I am having an affair keeps singing the praises of some woman he used to know. Even if it is a thing of the past, this can be very annoying. How much more so if he is still seeing her!”
“I hate people whose letters show that they lack respect for commonsense civilities, whether by discourtesy in the phrasing or by extreme politeness to someone who does not deserve it. This sort of thing is, of course, most odious if the letter is for me, but it is bad enough even if it is addressed to someone else.”
“Sometimes a person who is utterly devoid of charm will try to create a good impression by using very elegant language; yet he succeeds only in being ridiculous. No doubt he believes this refined language to be just what the occasion demands, but, when it goes so far that everyone bursts out laughing, surely something must be wrong.”
“A man who has nothing in particular to recommend him. But he speaks in an affected tone and poses as being elegant. I don’t like such a man.”
I chose 14 people out of 40 in the original. I could think of people and situations that fit Shonagon’s examples. But I decided it was not a nice thing to do.
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