to reign whenever conversation lags. Shepherds do it, 
     cops do it, stevedores and merchants in their shops do it. 
     And if you wonder why so few Greek women wear beads, 
     you’ll know it’s because their husbands have pre-empted 
     them for the simple pleasure of clicking. More aesthetic 
     than thumb-twiddling, less expensive than smoking, this 
     Queeg-like obsession indicates a tactile sensuousness 
     characteristic of a race which has produced the western 
     world’s greatest sculpture. . . .

     Where the heavy visual stress of literacy is lacking in a 
culture, there occurs another form of sensuous involvement 
and cultural appreciation that our Greek guide explains 
whimsically:

     . . . do  not be surprised at the frequency with which you are