Bout du monde
The way things used to be, it would take a long time for a letter to reach its recipient at the other end of the world. It was a couple of centuries ago. Make it three. I remember.
I remember that when you were, say, in the newborn Colonies of the Americas and you wanted to send a letter to the already doomed Europe, it could take months. Years even.
The ship carrying your precious letter begging for money to return to Europe and civilization, the letter begging the King to send you military support before you end up in the stomach of a pagan savage, the letter to the Archbishop asking for more Bibles to convert savages and explain them why good Christian meat is not edible; well that that ship reached her final destination depended on the mood of the Ocean, on the pirates she would certainly run into, on the skills of the men on her deck, on the weather...
By the time your letter reached your correspondent 6 months have elapsed. That is, if your lucky. One year, more likely.
You had to choose your words carefully back then. No way you'd write like you write an SMS now. No way you want to receive a reply to your letter of life and death two years later with the other guy just asking you: "What? Can't make any sense of your letter. Please rephrase." Not when you can already smell the savages' human-size pot already filled with carrot and other stuff for a nice "pot-au-feu."
Sometimes, your letter would find your correspondent dead. Or the King would have changed his mind and decided that your mission wasn't worth a rat's ass anymore and hey... even butt-naked savages need to eat.
I remember that when you were, say, in the newborn Colonies of the Americas and you wanted to send a letter to the already doomed Europe, it could take months. Years even.
The ship carrying your precious letter begging for money to return to Europe and civilization, the letter begging the King to send you military support before you end up in the stomach of a pagan savage, the letter to the Archbishop asking for more Bibles to convert savages and explain them why good Christian meat is not edible; well that that ship reached her final destination depended on the mood of the Ocean, on the pirates she would certainly run into, on the skills of the men on her deck, on the weather...
By the time your letter reached your correspondent 6 months have elapsed. That is, if your lucky. One year, more likely.
You had to choose your words carefully back then. No way you'd write like you write an SMS now. No way you want to receive a reply to your letter of life and death two years later with the other guy just asking you: "What? Can't make any sense of your letter. Please rephrase." Not when you can already smell the savages' human-size pot already filled with carrot and other stuff for a nice "pot-au-feu."
Sometimes, your letter would find your correspondent dead. Or the King would have changed his mind and decided that your mission wasn't worth a rat's ass anymore and hey... even butt-naked savages need to eat.
posted by Cecyl at 1:55 PM
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