[M&D p. 22] Spoiler -- Question

[Jeremy Osner]

Juan Cires Martinez wrote:
> 
> Spoiler-cum-question below:
> 
> On page 22, the L.E.D. says:
> 
>  "[...] we go on as tail-wagging Scheherezades, ever a step away from
>   the dread Palm Leaf, nightly delaying the Blades of our Masters by
>   telling back to them tales of their humanity."
> 
> What does the Palm Leaf mean?  What is it?  I am guessing that
> Scheherezade must be the wife in "1001 Nights", am I correct?
> (Right after that a sailor says: "Oh I say, Dog in Palm Leaf, what
> nonsense")
> 
> Saludos, Juan.

Palm leaf: in the previous paragraph, someone (Mason?) said (in
reference to Filipinos) "They eat dogs, don't they? Wrapped in palm
leafs." Forgive my inaccurate quoting, I don't have the book handy.

This statement may be a reference to a (apocryphal? I don't know) story
about the St. Louis World's Fair of 1904, in which Filipinos who had
been imported for a display about progress from barbarity to
civilization escaped and ate the dogs of some upper-class St. Louisans.
Thanks to my friend Nathaniel H. for this story; I don't have any idea
as to its truth or falsity.

Scheherezade: Yes, you're correct.

Jeremy