Russia in 1839 -Empire of the Czar: A Journey Through Eternal Russia

200THE PAIR AFTER SUNSET.

does not always deserve as great pity as that of the enslaved brute.

Towards evening the aspect of the plain became imposing. The horizon was lightly veiled in mist, which afterwards fell in dew on the dust of Nijni, a kind of fine brown sand, the reflection of which imparted to the heavens a reddish tint. The depths of the shade were pierced by the fantastic light of a multitude of lamps in the bivouacs by which the fair was surrounded. Everything had a voice;—from the distant forest, from the bosom of the inhabited river, a murmur brought to the attentive ear the sounds of life. What an imposing gathering together of mankind ! what different languages and contrasting habits ! and yet what uniformity of sentiments and ideas. The object of this great meeting, of each individual it comprised, was simply to gain a little money. Elsewhere the gaiety of the people conceals their cupidity; here commerce stands naked, and the sterile rapacity of the merchant predominates over the frivolity of the lounger: nothing is poetical; everything is mercenary. I am wrong, — the poetry of fear and of sorrow is at the bottom of everything in this country : but where is the voice that dares express it ? Nevertheless, there are a few pictures to console the imagination and to refresh the eye.

On the roads which connect the different merchant-encampments, may be seen long files of singular vehicles, being pairs of wheels united by ah axle, which, when attached to others, so as to form an equipage of four or six wheels, had served to carry the beams and poles used in the construction of some of the temporary erections of the fair. They return