Last week I was travelling from Paris to Seattle. Approaching my gate at Charles de Gaulle airport, I encountered a scene that reminded me of a passage in Walden In Henry David Thoreau’s chapter on the village with its eager merchants lying in wait to captivate passers-by. Before getting to my gate I would need to run a gauntlet between dozens of duty free shops. Here is how Thoreau described the similar ordeal in Concord more than a century and a half ago:
“The houses were so arranged as to make the most of mankind, in lanes and fronting one another, so that every traveller had to run the gauntlet, and every man, woman, and child might get a lick at him….
“The houses were so arranged as to make the most of mankind, in lanes and fronting one another, so that every traveller had to run the gauntlet, and every man, woman, and child might get a lick at him….
“Signs were hung out on all sides to allure him; some to catch him by the appetite, as the tavern and victualling cellar;
“some by the fancy, as the dry goods store and the jeweller's; and others by the hair or the feet or the skirts, as the barber, the shoemaker, or the tailor….
“For the most part I escaped wonderfully from these dangers, either by proceeding at once boldly and without deliberation to the goal, as is recommended to those who run the gauntlet, or by keeping my thoughts on high things, like Orpheus, who, "loudly singing the praises of the gods to his lyre, drowned the voices of the Sirens, and kept out of danger."
I too escaped the dangers, largely because my suitcase was full and my wallet was empty!
I too escaped the dangers, largely because my suitcase was full and my wallet was empty!
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