Subject: (urth) Saltimbanque vs. counterfeit

From: Cristina López <lforum at arrakis.es>
Date: Sat, 01 Nov 1997 16:07:47 +0000

[Posted from URTH, a mailing list about Gene Wolfe's New Sun and other works]

Nutria, Tony

Saltimbanque comes from the Italian Saltimbanqui and it means a kind of
smooth-tongued travelling salesman who climbs (salta) on top of a bench
(banqui) in the street and begins to describe the wonders of his stuff.
Obviously, most often these wonders are counterfeit so, in a sense, yes it
could be, but

a much more popular meaning of saltimbanqui (at least in Spanish, as far as
I can tell) is "itinerant acrobat" and this one has nothing to do with
counterfeit.

However, knowing the careful choice of words typical in Wolfe, I'd bet he
was aware of both meanings, so anything is possible. Anyway, my impression
is that Saltimbanque Street is just a colourist name (Street of the
Strolling Performers) for a street in a lively quarter.

---

From: Jim Jordan <jbjordan at gnt.net>
Date: Mon, 03 Nov 1997 21:15:20 +0000

Okay, I went back and looked it up, instead of relying on memory.

Italian, Spanish, and English are not New Orleans, and this is definitely
New Orleans.

In French, saltimbanque means "charlatan." Sorry for saying
"counterfeiter," though that's close. Given the hell associations, the 666,
the whorehouse, and the generally evil experiments of Mr. Million, I'd say
"Satan as charlatan" was clearly in Wolfe's mind. Not that the story is an
allegory, or something. But the last line of the original novella is a
chiller if this line of clones is really an "antichrist"!

Nutria