"'This animal is common in the northern regions and is about four or five inches long; it is endowed with an unusual instinct; its eyes are like carnelian stones, and its hair is jet black, sleek and flexible; as soft as a pillow. It is very fond of eating thick Chinese ink, and whatever people write, it sits with folded hands and crossed legs, waiting til the writing is finished, when it drinks up the remainder of the ink; which done, it squats down as before; and does not frisk about unnecessarily. ' --Wang Tai-hai (1791)"
Excerpt from The Book of Imaginary Beings,
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges
