zatris wrote:I've just checked the original title of Mirolad Pavić's Landscape Painted with Tea (extraordinary novel, by the way) and the Serbo-Croatian word for it seems to be the land one, čaj. (Actually it is čajem in the title of the book, which according to Wiktionary is the instrumental case.
It is instrumental indeed: tools or materials used are usually expressed with the instrumental case.
Also interesting, most 'teas' on shelves in countries of former Yugoslavia are not 'real' tea, but other kinds (chamomile, mint, hibiscus, fruits).
A small correction: author's first name is Milorad.