From Gustave Flaubert's The Temptation of St. Anthony:
This light tissue, which crackles under the fingers with the noise of sparks, is the famous yellow linen brought by the merchants from Bactriana. They required no less than forty-three interpreters during their voyage.
"forty-three interpreters". What a wonderful way of conveying distance, spatial as well as cultural!
With modern advances in transportation, the hold products brought from far-away places had on our imagination has waned. What has succeeded it? The thrill of the early adopter. Farness in space substituted by closeness in time as a source of fascination.
Vaguely related:
- The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A Study of T'ang Exotics.
- This podcast on EconTalk about the book A Splendid Exchange.
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