Numbers above 1,000 were written by placing, before the letter denoting the number of thousands, an obliquely slanting line crossed twice

Numbers above 1,000 were written by placing, before the letter denoting the number of thousands, an obliquely slanting line crossed twice.
Large numbers were written thus: Az (the letter a) in a circle was a tma ("darkness"), or 10,000. Accordingly, Zemlya (the letter z) in a circle was 70,000.
Az in a dotted circle was a legion, or 100,000.
Az in a ring of commas was a leodr, or 1,000,000.
Az in a ring of crosses was a voron ("raven"), or 10,000,000.
Az in brackets above and below was a koloda ("pack"), or 100,000,000.
Yery (the letter y), outlined on three sides by perpendicular lines and with a cross above, was a tma tem ("darkness of darknesses"), that is, a billion.

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At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free

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Frederic Leighton

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Numbers above 1,000 were written by placing, before the letter denoting the number of thousands, an obliquely slanting line crossed twice

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At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free

Frederic Leighton

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