the Same and the Other

"These ambiguities, redundancies, and deficiencies recall those attributed by Dr. Franz Kuhn to a certain Chinese encyclopedia called the Heavenly Emporium of Benevolent Knowledge. In its distant pages it is written that animals are divided into (a) those that belong to the emperor; (b) embalmed ones; (c) those that are trained; (d) suckling pigs; (e) mermaids; (f) fabulous ones; (g) stray dogs; (h) those that are included in this classification; (i) those that tremble as if they were mad; (j) innumerable ones; (k) those drawn with a very fine camel's-hair brush; (l) etcetera; (m) those that have just broken the flower vase; (n) those that at a distance resemble flies."(Jorge Luis Borges, The Analytical Language of John Wilkins)
　ボルヘスの哄笑。フーコーも指摘するように、これらの諸カテゴリを繫ぐ唯一の絆は(a)から(n)までのアルファベットだけなのである。
　ボルヘス以後、世界は完全に変貌した。