“Shah Ismail had fallen victim to the rarely used, great Uzbek anti-Shiite potato and sturgeon curse, which required quantities of potatoes and caviar which were not easy to amass, and a unity of purpose among the Sunni witches which was likewise difficult to achieve.”

“It is easy to think of potatoes, and fortunately for men who have not much money it is easy to think of them with a certain safety. Potatoes are one of the last things to disappear, in times of war, which is probably why they should not be forgotten in times of peace.”

“All difficult things in the world are sure to arise from a previous state in which they were easy, and all great things from one in which they were small.”

“Allegories are told with a purpose whose possibility is lostUntil a potato-eater appears and eats potatoes”

“And they have a display of bananas, which are not bananas but called plantains and are more like a potato pretending to be a banana.”

“red hair was rare among the free folk, and those who had it were said to be kissed by fire, which was supposed to be lucky.”