are not noxious; but I cannot express the disgust with which they inspire me. The filthiness, the apathy, which
182
PRIDE OF
their presence in the habitations of man betrays, make me regret my journey to this part of the globe. I feel as though there were a moral degradation in being approached by these offal-bred creatures : physical antipathy triumphs over all the efforts of reason.
Л merchant of Moscow, who has the most splendid and extensive silk-magazine in the fair, is coming this morning to take me over it, and to show me everything in detail.
I again find here the dust and suffocating heat of a southern clime. I was therefore well advised not to go on foot to the fair : but the concourse of strangers is at this time so great at Nijni, that I could not get a vehicle on hire; I was therefore obliged to use the by-no-means elegant one in which I arrived from Moscow, and to attach to it two horses only, which annoyed me as much as though I had been a Russian. It is not through vanity that they drive four horses : the animals have spirit, but they are not robust ; they soon fatigue when they have much weight to draw.
On entering the carriage with the merchant who was so good as to act as my cicerone, and with hi?? brother, I told my feldjager to follow us. He, without hesitating or waiting to ask my permission, deliberately stepped into the caleche, and, with a coolness
that amazed me, seated himself by the side of M.'s
brother, who, notwithstanding my expostulations, was determined to sit with his back to the horses. In this country it is not unusual to see the owner of
THE FELDJAGEE.183
a carriage seated faciug the horses, when even he is not by the side of a lady, whilst his friends place themselves opposite. This impoliteness, which would not be committed among us excepting where there was the strictest intimacy, here astonishes nobody.
Fearing lest the familiarity of the courier should shock my obliging companions, I considered it necessary to make this man remove; and told him, very civilly, to mount the seat by the side of the coachman.
' I shall do nothing of the kind,' answered the feldjager, with imperturbable sang-froid.
We spoke in German. ' It would be a derogation,' answered the Russian, in the same quiet tone.
This reminded me of the disputes about precedence among the boyards, which, under the reigns of the Ivans, were often so serious as to fill many pages of the Russian history of that epoch.
This uniform, which I have noticed elsewhere, is that of an agent of the post.
i<S4PRIDE OF THE FELDJAGER.
tchinn; I am not a private servant; I am in the employ of the emperor.'
?? I should have the appearance of being one, were I to sit in that place when you take a ride in the city. I have been many years in service; and, as a recompense for my good conduct, they hold out to me the prospect of nobility: I am endeavouring to obtain it, for I am ambitious.'
This confusion of our old aristocratic ideas with the new vanity instilled by despots into a people diseased with envy, took me by surprise. I had before ine a specimen of the worst kind of emulation — that of the
After a moment's silence, . answered: ' I approve your pride, if it is well founded; but being little acquainted with the usages of your country, I shall, before allowing you to enter my coach, submit your claims to the governor. My intention is to require nothing from you beyond what you owe me in accordance with the orders given you when you were sent to me : in my uncertainty as to yoiir pretensions, I dispense with your services for to-day; I shall proceed without you.'
I felt inclined to laugh at the tone of importance with which I spoke; but I considered this dramatic dignity necessary to my comfort during the rest of the journey. There is nothing, however ridiculous, which may not be excused by the conditions and the inevitable consequences of despotism.
This aspirant to nobility, and scrupulous observer
THE CITY OF THE FAIR.185
of the etiquette of the highway, costs me, notwithstanding his pride, three hundred francs, in wages, per month. He reddened when he heard my last words, and, without making any reply, he left the carriage and re- entered the house in silence.
The ground on which the fair is held is very spacious ; and I congratulated myself that I did not proceed to that city of a month on foot, for the heat continues to be great during a day in which the sun still darts his rays for fifteen hours.
The men of every land, but especially those of the extreme East, here meet together: these men are however more singular in name than in appearance. All the Asiatics resemble each other, or they may, at least, be divided into two classes: those having the faces of apes, as the Calmucs, Mongols, Baskirs, and Chinese ; and those having the Greek profile, as the Circas-sians, Persians, Georgians, Indians, &c.
The fair of Nijni is held, as I have already said, on an immense triangle of sandy and perfectly level land, which runs to a point between the Oka, at its embouchure into the Volga, and the broad stream of the latter river. It is, therefore, bordered on either side by one of the two rivers. The soil upon which so immense an amount of wealth is heaped scarcely rises above the water. This merchant-city consists of a vast assemblage of long and broad streets: their perfect straightness injures their picturesque effect. A dozen of buildings called Chinese pavilions rise above the shops; but their fantastic style is not sufficient to correct the dulness and monotony of the general aspect of the edifices. The whole forms an oblong bazaar, which appears solitary, so vast is it in extent. The
186
SUBTERRANEAN CITY.
