12 FEB 02: WALTER BENJAMIN
ON HASHISH

from some Benjamin bio,
via Adam Mortimer:

There is an interesting gloss
on “politeness” in the essay “Hashish in

Marseilles”, which describes
how Benjamin, after smoking hashish, succumbed to

hunger, which required a
visit to Basso’s restaurant. Here he ordered oysters

from the menu, and a local
dish as a main course. The waiter returned to say

that his choice of main
course was unavailable, and offered him the menu a

second time. Benjamin’s
finger hovers over the previously chosen dish, then

settles on the dish directly
above it, which he orders. Then he orders the dish

above that one, and the
next dish, and the next, all the way to the top of the

menu. “This was not just
from greed, however,” Benjamin comments, “but from an

extreme politeness toward
the dishes, which I did not wish to offend by a

refusal.”