All the houses in that direction are new and handsome, as
you see; when I was a boy I used to play at hop-scotch where they now
stand. Thanks to the munificence of our kings, Paris is being constantly
improved and beautified, to the great admiration and delight of
everybody; more especially of foreigners, who take home wondrous tales
of its splendour."
"But what astonishes me," said de Sigognac, "more even than the grandeur
and sumptuousness of the buildings, both public and private, is the
infinite number of people swarming everywhere--in the streets and open
squares, and on the bridges--like ants when one has broken into an ant
hill; they are all rushing distractedly about, up and down, back and
forth, as if life and death depended upon their speed. How strange it is
to think that every individual in this immense crowd must be lodged
and fed--and what a prodigious amount of food and wine it must take to
satisfy them all."
And indeed, it was not surprising that the great numbers of people,
moving in every direction, should strike one unaccustomed to the crowded
thoroughfares of large cities as extraordinary. On the Pont-Neuf an
unceasing stream of vehicles rolled in each direction--fine carriages,
richly decorated and gilded, drawn by two or four prancing horses, with
lackeys in brilliant liveries clinging on behind, and stately coachmen
on the box; less pretentious carriages with more quiet steeds and fewer
servants; heavy carts laden with stone, wood, or wine-barrels, whose
drivers swore loudly at the detentions they were frequently obliged to
submit to, and which were unavoidable in such a crush of vehicles; and
among them all, gentlemen on horseback, threading their way carefully
in and out among the press of carts and carriages, and endeavouring
to avoid coming in contact with their muddy wheels--not always
successfully; while here and there a sedan chair crept slowly along,
keeping upon the edge of the stream, so as not to be crushed; and
the narrow, raised walk on either side was thronged with pedestrians.
Pages:
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401