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High Steppers · Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Menke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
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  Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of
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  Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all
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  Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just
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  Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities.
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  Speaker 1: To succeed in life, a person must never rely on
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  Speaker 1: only one perspective. It's important to view problems from all
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  Speaker 1: sides and see every angle. That might mean getting a
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  Speaker 1: second opinion or imagining yourself in someone else's shoes, And
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  Speaker 1: for one group of French shepherds, those shoes were pretty
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  Speaker 1: darn big. Along the southwestern coast of France is the
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  Speaker 1: Lawn region, just below Bordeaux, out on the Bay of Biscay,
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  Speaker 1: and is covered in a lush forest of maritime pine trees.
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  Speaker 1: But land didn't always look this way. In fact, more
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  Speaker 1: than a century ago it wasn't nearly as verdant and
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  Speaker 1: full of life. It was maintained as a feeding ground
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  Speaker 1: for the one million sheep in the area. Locals would
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  Speaker 1: burn parts of the land to keep it suitable for
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  Speaker 1: the sheep to graze, leaving it soft, flat and marsh covered.
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  Speaker 1: It was almost impossible to get around on foot, and
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  Speaker 1: there were no proper roads on which to drive, so instead,
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  Speaker 1: shepherds found another way to navigate the uneven terrain. They
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  Speaker 1: walked around on stilts. These were five foot tall leg
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  Speaker 1: extensions that were fastened to the shepherd's legs so they
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  Speaker 1: could walk above the flocks without sinking into the soil.
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  Speaker 1: A long staff was used to keep them from falling
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  Speaker 1: over and to direct the sheep where they needed to go.
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  Speaker 1: Those who lived in land during the nineteenth century learned
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  Speaker 1: how to walk on these stilts as children. They could
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  Speaker 1: do everything in them too, including running and jumping, as
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  Speaker 1: though they weren't wearing anything at all, and there was
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  Speaker 1: perhaps no greater proof of their dexterity than a land
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  Speaker 1: stilt walker named Sylvain Dornan. Dornan was from Sahl and
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  Speaker 1: had no connection to the stilt walkers of Lan. His
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  Speaker 1: father had actually made a living harvesting resin from pine trees,
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  Speaker 1: but Sylvain became a baker. But after moving to Arkaschon
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  Speaker 1: and seeing the flock of tourists visiting the city, the
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  Speaker 1: young Dornan got an idea he would go out in public,
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  Speaker 1: surrounded by crowds, and show off his moves in a
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  Speaker 1: pair of stilts. He would dance and perform for passers by,
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  Speaker 1: who would tip him for the entertainment, and his notoriety
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  Speaker 1: even earned him an invitation to climb up to the
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  Speaker 1: second level of a brand new building in Paris, one
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  Speaker 1: called the Eiffel Tower while wearing his stilts, which he
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  Speaker 1: did with a wild boar by his side. But Dornan
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  Speaker 1: wanted to take things even further. He'd always been fascinated
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  Speaker 1: by the stories of Russians who had come to France
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  Speaker 1: from their home country on foot, so he decided to
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  Speaker 1: do the same, just in the opposite direction. After obtaining
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  Speaker 1: sponsorship from a local magazine, the famous baker prepared for
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  Speaker 1: his journey to Russia on stilts, and he built two pairs.
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  Speaker 1: One measured a little over three feet tall while the
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  Speaker 1: other was almost six feet in length. Then he donned
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  Speaker 1: the full regalia of land shepherds, packed a bag and
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  Speaker 1: left Paris on March twelfth of eighteen ninety one. Over
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  Speaker 1: two thousand spectators were there to see him off. Dornan
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  Speaker 1: averaged about thirty seven miles a day and met all
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  Speaker 1: kinds of people during his travels. Some were friendly and
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  Speaker 1: would walk alongside him for short stretches. Others, like neighborhood children,
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  Speaker 1: would tease him and throw rocks as he walked, and
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  Speaker 1: more than one police officer gave him trouble for his stunt,
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  Speaker 1: but he eventually made it, crossing almost three thousand miles
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  Speaker 1: in just under two months. He returned home a hero
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  Speaker 1: and went right back to work at his bakery, although
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  Speaker 1: he occasionally strapped on his stilts every now and then
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  Speaker 1: to dance or race in front of wrapped audiences. Over time,
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  Speaker 1: stilt walking died out, at least where the land shepherds
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  Speaker 1: were concerned the hard to navigate. More marshlands were soon
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  Speaker 1: covered in pine trees, and the landscape dried up, forcing
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  Speaker 1: the sheep elsewhere to graze. But not all is lost.
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  Speaker 1: Some French dancers perform on stilts to this day, continuing
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  Speaker 1: the tradition made famous by Sylvain Dornan, who took one
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  Speaker 1: large step for man and one enormous leap for stilt
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  Speaker 1: walkers everywhere. It may not be the world's oldest profession,
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  Speaker 1: but it's right up there. Piracy has been around for
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  Speaker 1: as long as people have known how to sail. The
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  Speaker 1: earliest references to pirates comes from the records of a
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  Speaker 1: pharaoh writing in the fourteenth century BCE. The Egyptians struggled
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  Speaker 1: to tamp down the problem, and by the time of
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  Speaker 1: ancient Rome, the Mediterranean Sea was infested with pirates. Now
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  Speaker 1: these ancient seafarers caused a relentless headache for the Romans.
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  Speaker 1: They preyed on merchant ships. They attacked coastal villages and
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  Speaker 1: took loads of people hostages. Four captives were forced into slavery,
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  Speaker 1: while the rich were ransomed back to their families for
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  Speaker 1: exorbitant sums. Virtually no one was safe, but every once
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  Speaker 1: in a while a hostage turned out to be more
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  Speaker 1: trouble than they were worth. That's exactly what happened in
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  Speaker 1: seventy five BC when a band of pirates from southern
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  Speaker 1: Turkey captured a small vessel crossing the aeg and c.
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  Speaker 1: They overpowered the crew and looted the hull, but the
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  Speaker 1: real prize was the ship's owner, a twenty five year
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  Speaker 1: old Roman nobleman, who was on his way to Rhodes,
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  Speaker 1: where he planned to study public speaking under a famous orator.
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  Speaker 1: From the moment he was on board, the pirates knew
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  Speaker 1: that they had gotten more than they bargained for. This
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  Speaker 1: youth didn't seem remotely worried about being captured, and immediately
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  Speaker 1: started bossing his captors around like servants. When he found
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  Speaker 1: out how much they were planning to ransom him for,
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  Speaker 1: he laughed in their faces and advised them to double
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  Speaker 1: the amount. The pirates tried to ignore him, though, dismissing
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  Speaker 1: the young man's comments as the arrogant boasting typical of
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  Speaker 1: Roman elites. They sent a message to his family demanding
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  Speaker 1: payment for his release, and then they set sale for
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  Speaker 1: their island hideout. And meanwhile, the young noblemen continued to
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  Speaker 1: make their lives a living nightmare. He complained about the cooking,
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  Speaker 1: he argued endlessly with the crew, and he shushed them
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  Speaker 1: from disturbing his naps by working too loudly. Pretty soon,
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  Speaker 1: the pirates were starting to wonder if he was even
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  Speaker 1: worth all the trouble. If he didn't shut up soon,
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  Speaker 1: they were liable to throw him overboard and just be
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  Speaker 1: done with it. But the real ordeal was just getting started.
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  Speaker 1: One evening, the youth appeared on deck in an annoyingly
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  Speaker 1: cheerful mood Waving around a roll of parchment, he announced
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  Speaker 1: that he was eager to share some poems he'd been
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  Speaker 1: working on. The pirates were horrified, but short of cutting
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  Speaker 1: his throat and giving up on the ransom altogether, there
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  Speaker 1: was nothing they could do. For the rest of the journey,
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  Speaker 1: they were subjected to bad poetry and half finished speeches.
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  Speaker 1: If they ever failed to praise their hostage for his writing,
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  Speaker 1: he would storm off in a huff, call them illiterate savages,
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  Speaker 1: or threatened to have them executed once he was freed.
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  Speaker 1: It was enough to make even the most hardened pirate
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  Speaker 1: reconsider their life choices. After thirty eight long days, the
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  Speaker 1: young man's family finally paid the ransom. The pirates were
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  Speaker 1: all too eager to say goodbye. They dropped him off
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  Speaker 1: on dry land and wasted no time in turning around
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  Speaker 1: and sailing in the opposite direction. It felt good to
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  Speaker 1: be paid, but even better to be free of their hostage. Unfortunately,
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  Speaker 1: it wasn't the last time that they would see him.
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  Speaker 1: A few weeks later, the pirates were anchored at their
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  Speaker 1: hideout when a fleet of Roman warships arrived on their shores.
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  Speaker 1: The navy quickly captured the pirates, who were stunned to
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  Speaker 1: learn that this force was led by their former hostage.
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  Speaker 1: The young nobleman hadn't been exaggerating when he told the
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  Speaker 1: pirates to increase the ransom. While his name wasn't famous yet,
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  Speaker 1: Julius Caesar would soon be the most powerful man in
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  Speaker 1: the world, even though he was just a student at
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  Speaker 1: this point. The future dictates already had enough influence to
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  Speaker 1: see his captors thrown in prison. Then, true to his word,
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  Speaker 1: he personally oversaw their crucifixions. It was a humiliating, painful
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  Speaker 1: end for the pirates, but after everything they'd been through,
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  Speaker 1: it might still have been preferable to another night of
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  Speaker 1: bad poetry. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of
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  Speaker 1: the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts,
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  Speaker 1: or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast
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  Speaker 1: dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Mankey
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  Speaker 1: in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award
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  Speaker 1: winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series,
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  Speaker 1: and television show, and you can learn all about it
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  Speaker 1: over at the Worldolore dot com. And until next time,
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  Speaker 1: stay curious.