During ancient and medieval times, Westerners peopled the Orient with a host of fabulous creatures, including the single-footed sciapodes (picture 6), people with ears as large as winnowing fans (picture 7), and "men whose heads do grow beneath their shoulders" (picture 8).
老「東」老「西」，孿生兄弟？當然，歐洲人的想像力也有與東方人心有靈犀的時候。希臘人所設想的東方世界，有大腳先生（圖六）、長耳朵紳士（圖七），還有位老兄的五官四平八穩地生在胸前（圖八）。