Page 334 - The Grotesque Children's Book

“So how many florins do you want for this stone?”

“I couldn't put a number on it. Thousands of men have spent their lives searching for the
right ingredients in the right proportion to make Bunduqiatqasara.”

“I'll put a number on it. Three hundred florins. Five hundred.”

This was the equivalent of nearly ten years' wages for Zaccario. He was holding out for
twenty.

SIDEBAR: Florins and soldi. Money in Renaissance Italy is extremely
difficult to translate. The value of a particular coin was based on its weight,
rather than a fixed denomination. Soldi were made of silver, and florins were
made of gold, and they didn’t maintain a steady relationship, as sometimes the
florin would fluctuate but the soldi didn’t, or vice-versa. Further complicating
this is that florins weren’t in circulation, per se; everyday coins used to buy things
on the street or in the market were scudi, denari and soldi. Florins were used for
big ticket items, or for accounting. You don’t need to know the details of all this
(nor could I explain it very well). But you’ll be in the ballpark if you think of a
florin as a thousand-dollar gold coin, and a soldi as a ten-dollar silver coin. A
denari was worth about a dollar of contemporary currency. Don’t get me started
on lira, which was the base currency of Venice and other places, but not Florence.
During the 15th century (really 1350-1500), the average daily wage in Florence
would have been about 10 soldi, and so on. In this scene, when Bianca is offering
five hundred florins to purchase the stone for the amulet, she’s offering about a
half-million dollars.

“I don't actually have any Bunduqiatqasara here. I would have to send to Araby for it.
And it might take several attempts, as the carrier of such a powerful stone is likely to be
assassinated en route if his manifest is made known.”

“I'll guarantee his safety.”

“You might as well guarantee the safe arrival of the shroud from Turin.”

“I see your point. Why why tell me about it if I can't have it? You're horrible and I hate
you.”

“I think I can manufacture The Dragon here, myself.”

“You're wonderful and I love you. Do that!”

“Well, of course I've been trying. It's a very complicated process involving nine different
stages, and the slightest impurity or misstep causes the powder to lose all potency.”

“So what do you need?”

“Time, mostly. And three specially-made glass cucurbits.”

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