— Chapter I · 章 之 一 —

Why we did not begin with a brand.

不 以 品 牌 為 始

For a long time, before any of this, there was only the question: what does a room sound like, when no one is performing in it. Five teas were the answer; though we did not know they would be teas. They could have been letters, or rooms, or pauses between sentences. They became teas because tea is the most patient of the small forms — it waits without complaining, and it asks nothing of the one who pours it except that they remember how to wait, too.

很長一段時間裡，只剩這個問題：當無人於室內表演，這房間聽起來會是什麼樣子。五款茶是答案——雖然當時我們並不知它們會以茶的形態出現。它們可能是信，可能是房間，可能是句與句之間的停頓。它們成為茶，因為茶，是諸小形態中最有耐心者——它無怨地等候，亦不向沏者求索，僅望那人仍記得如何等候。

— Chapter II · 章 之 二 —

The day F-001 was kept aside.

F-001 · 留 而 不 出

The first number we ever issued was kept. Not given to a friend, not gifted to an early collector, not awarded to ourselves. We kept it for the person who would arrive without telling us why. That seat at the table has been empty since the beginning; and the room has stayed warmer for it, not colder. Sometimes the most generous thing a brand can do is hold open a place that no one has yet earned.

我們發出的第一個編號，我們留下了。未贈友人，未予早期藏者，亦未頒予自身。我們留它，給那位將會抵達、卻未說明緣由之人。那張桌前的位子，自起始即虛——而此舉令室更溫，非更冷。有時，一個品牌最慷慨之事，乃是為一個尚無人能領的席位，敞開門戶。

— Chapter III · 章 之 三 —

The cup, and the room around the cup.

盞 · 與 盞 周 之 室

People often ask what makes the tea different. The honest answer is: the room around the cup. The five vessels were chosen for the rooms they ask of you. A morning room. A throne room. A quiet afternoon room. A full-moon room. An old-souls room. If you do not have such rooms, you have not lost anything; you simply have not been there yet. The tea will wait. So will the room.

人常問此茶與他者何異。誠實的答案是：盞之周圍的那間室。五器之擇定，乃因其向您求索之室——晨之室、座之室、靜午之室、滿月之室、老靈魂之室。若您尚無此類室，您未失任何事——僅是您尚未抵達彼處。茶將等候。室，亦如是。

— Chapter IV · 章 之 四 —

What we will never sell.

永 不 出 售 之 物

We will never sell speed; we will never sell a logo; we will never sell the right to skip a season. We will not sell the number on the card, and we will not sell silence. The list of things we will not sell is, deliberately, longer than the list of things we will. That is the only definition of luxury we have been able to find that does not embarrass us.

我們不售速度；不售標識；不售跳過一季之權。卡上編號，不售；靜默，不售。我們不售之物的清單，刻意，較我們會售之物為長。這是我們所能尋得、唯一不令自身難為情的「精品」定義。

— Chapter V · 章 之 五 —

To the one who reads this far.

致 · 讀 至 此 處 之 人

If you are still here, on a Sunday or a Tuesday or a midnight that nobody else will know about, you are the reason Moniece was built. Not the famous one, not the one with the loudest reservation list — you, the one who slowed down. The room was warmed for you. The number was held for you. There is a cup, somewhere on the tray, that is not for anyone in particular. Take it. The rest is yours.

若您仍在此——於某個無人知曉的週日、週二，或午夜——您即是莫莉絲被建造之緣由。不是名聲最盛之人，不是預訂名單上聲響最大之人——是您，是那位放慢的人。此室為您而暖。編號為您而留。托上某處，有一盞茶，本不為誰而留——請取。其後，由您自定。