rural area; countryside; the sticks; hometown
Japanese food; Japanese meal
far from; anything but; not at all; let alone; to say nothing of; not to mention
(not) anything; (nothing) at all; (not) any
now that; since; so long as; because
secondhand book; ancient book; antiquarian books
trade; business; commerce; occupation; calling; profession
black; dark; blackish; suspicious; criminal; darkened and dirty; sooty
Mary (mother of Jesus); the Virgin Mary; Mary (of Magdala); Mary Magdalene
early Christianity; 1st and 2nd century Christianity
indigenousness; being native (to a region); settling (of people); native; indigenous; aboriginal
(religious) faith; belief; creed
to be mixed; to be blended with; to be combined; to associate with; to mingle with; to interest
magic; sorcery; incantation
concerning the result (as opposed to the means used to achieve this result or the original goal)
substitute; replacement; stand-in; proxy; compensation; exchange
to ask; to inquire; to blame (someone) for; to accuse of; to care about; to regard as important
book; document; calligraphy (esp. Chinese); penmanship; handwriting; letter
law; act; method; mood; dharma; law
to obtain; to come into possession of; to get hold of; to get one's hands on
black magic; sorcery; magic tricks; juggling
itself; one's own body; oneself; originally; naturally
suspicious; dubious; doubtful; unsure; untrustworthy; unreliable; strange
surface; face (i.e. the visible side of an object); front (of a building, etc.); obverse side (i.e. "head") of a coin; outside; exterior; appearance
route; path; channel (e.g. sales, distribution)
slow; time-consuming; late (in the day); towards the end (of the day or night); later (than expected or usual); late
to get along (with someone); to be like-minded; to be congenial
pish; pooh; I see; oh; indeed
for example; for instance; e.g.
manuscript (book); written copy of a book; codex; transcription; copying
Buddhist temple; religious building; church; cathedral
to discover; to find (e.g. an error in a book); to locate; to find (e.g. something missing); to be used to seeing; to be familiar with
to transcribe; to duplicate; to describe; to film; to picture
century; era; of the century (e.g. fight of the century)
to be called ...; to be referred to as ...