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Show f On a Russian Street 1 (Special urrcspondence.) "Now," said my nutslan frlcnl "hero In the Aloxandrovsky Rlnrt you shall II nil amusement. Shop shops, nothing but shops; and In IV shops and market squares all til things you may deslro hut do nt want A most truly wonderful placl tho Alcxnndrov8ky Itlnok, think yoj not so?" And truly n most wonderful plncJ Shors, jos. thoro must bo hundred1 nny, thousands of them; and all llttl shujis, and Inside tho shops, nhis! hi Ilttlo light and small room to mow aud stuffy phow I The Ilusslnn dol not lovo ventilation. Pastnges. pol snges, nothing but passages. Shops c tho right band, shops on tho 1ft bund; and In the windows "nil U things oii may desire, but do ill wont." 1 And at the shop doors young n4 and mnldeos. and old men, nnd sdt-times sdt-times old women, very old u omen, 111 onger-oyed nnd garrulous. R They address us. they look at with llattorlng and compelling eft. We aro velmosbnln bojarre (grit lords), wo have estates, and on ourl tales perhaps thousands and thotti ands of cattle and horses, nnd mil dreds and hundreds of men and won! en It must bo so: for we are so wo dressed and wenr patent leather boot nnd gloves gltnes Hint were nei mndo In Russia; and necktks, brlnil hued neckttps; and collars, col ,u that shine like rarest china; and nl wo not light our cigars with w,i matchos, woni'irful wax mntchca tha woro never mude In Ilussln? Ant! jure, wo must have come to purclmsi ill tho Aloxnndrovsky ninok; nil tl" :on(cnts of Its shops which open doS-?d doS-?d Btand on our right hand nnd p ur left hnml. And the eontonts of tho shopsij-ioots; shopsij-ioots; all kinds of boot, es, even "Jack" boots wlii 2lrculnr-corrugnled creases; poll soots, too, seem those In tho Aloxai-Jrovsky Aloxai-Jrovsky Itlnok; for bootmnklug Ish ;hlng In which our Hussion uxce . No Sale for Boot Seller. Hut wo do not want boots, as ti politely tell a gentleman who lnsls . upon dragging out to us his cntlp tock-ln-tradc. And wo pass ol Three puffs at our cigars, and a lad' '.his time. Yellow Is her face, as low as tho walls of tho Aloxandrovsfy Itlnok, and black aro her eyes ail hair; and stout Is she as only Iltf-lon Iltf-lon women have learned to be stoif. Yes, wo have como to tho Aloxai drovsky Itlnok to buy a parroUk green parrol. She can read It Id Vir eyes, Sho has tho very blr(. In SI-bcrln SI-bcrln was her parrot born, li Siberia wns her parrot educated. If Siberia would her parrot hnvo died, had not a great and maiden lady nscued It and brought It with her to a. Petersburg Peters-burg and civilization. A mlrvetl a parrot who speaks eloquently Ilusslnn Slborlan Ilusslnn; n parrot who repeats re-peats curious phrases yes, tven religious re-ligious phrases, peculiar, no doubt, to tho Siberians, Nay, she hs oven seen It "cross" Itself n devout parrot. par-rot. Wonder of wonders! And more beautiful still tbo credulity of tho vol-moshnla vol-moshnla boynree; for oh! that parrot sn beholding us flapped Its wings, stretched out Its neck, and assailed us In one minute with moro cholco curses than a Ilusslnn workman could reel off In a week And only twenty-flvo twenty-flvo roubles, that parrot! Dabel of Sounds. And so wo bid "prnshtchol" (ndleu) to Mndamo Avoirdupois, call her n Street Scent, gojubka (lUtlo dove), as Is customnry when wo wish to'be pollta to sliou-l.etpers sliou-l.etpers In Ilusela, and pass on and look serious to shopkeepers, for wo wish to see only see the shop windows win-dows nnd tho peoulu; and many ar$, the shop windows nnd tbe peoplo In the Aloxundrovsk) Itlnok. Wo might Imagine ourselves n Con stantlnople. perhaps In Jaffa, or In, but oh, tbo dlnl tho rattle ot crockery, ' tho clash ot tinware, the voices ot that women, tho voices ot tho men (andj your Husslmi, it would seni, In tho Aloxnndrovsky U'nok has lungs' 0 brass), tho Jostling and '.ho pushing tho wayjng of. arms, tho wagging of bennls nnd th'q odors In the sunshlno In that market square ot tho Alex androvsky Ilinok, which contains all. thi things which you ma desire, but do not wnutt And ngaln, ns we do not wish nt present to purchnse a black donkey (which to us could only be a white elephant), nor nny second-hand undcrllucn, nor nny Ikonll. nor nn astrakhan as-trakhan lint, nor a hot-water bottle, nor n melodcon, nor nny fish, flesh, fowl, nor Ilusslan rod herring, nor nny sticky sweotment, nor nu thing clso that Is In the Aloxandrovsky Ilinok, wo bent as hasty 11 retreat ns Is pos Blblo In tho clrcumstnnces and gnln the SnJovajti. In the Sadovaya. And In the Sadovnyn a fresher nlr and sunshlno and many people who are walking this way nnd that wny; nnd somo stand and stare blankly nt the roadway; and here n rod-shlrted. long-booted rabotnlk (workman) trudging wnrkwnrd. and close behind I I I .-'- The Nevsky Prospect, a smnrt pnrtootchlk (lieutenant), nnd thero a dvornlk (porter) nnd n boolot-chnlk boolot-chnlk (baker), nnd, yes, thero, stepping step-ping out of her private droschka, Ksheslnsky, of the Royal Ilallet! And tho war In tho Kar Hast, ono nsks oneself, has It ever happened? ono hears not a word in the Aloxandrovsky Aloxandrov-sky Itlnok. And no ono seems merry nnd no ono seems sad, and wo hall a red-bearded Ir.Noshtchlk and say "prashtchal" to tho Alexandrovsky Ilinok, whero you wilt always find "all tha things ou may deslro, but do not want." |