This is the earliest and commonly received tradition of the introduction of silk culture into Europe. But the shrewd missionaries made two large and hollow canes, which they filled with the eggs, and by this ingenious device succeeded in conveying them in good condition to the emperor. The exportation of eggs was forbidden under penalty of death. Stimulated by the large rewards which the emperor offered, the monks went back to India. He was further informed that though the worms themselves could not be brought to Byzantium, it would be easy to bring their eggs, the worms from which, when hatched, and fed on mulberry leaves, would spin their silken fibre for his subjects, and render importation from the hated Persians unnecessary. Up to this time, the middle of the sixth century, the common opinion in Europe was, that, like cotton, it was wholly a vegetable product. They sought an audience with the Emperor Justinian, who was, no doubt, a little surprised when he learned that this beautiful and coveted product was originally the work of a worm. They were especially interested in finding the secret of a certain fabric of surprising lustre and beauty, familiar to Europe at that time as one of the most mysterious products of the East, and so highly valued that a pound of it was worth a pound of gold. They determined to learn as well as to teach. Sent to the East by the Patriarch of Persia, whither they had fled after the Nestorian persecution, they were not so zealous in the propagation of Christianity that they failed to perceive certain features in the arts and sciences in which the heathen were far superior to the Christians. ABOUT thirteen hundred and fifty years ago two Nestorian monks, armed with formidable-looking canes, were traveling from India to Byzantium.
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