At the corners are assembled juntos of village
idlers and wise men, who take their stations there for the important
purpose of seeing company pass; but the sagest knot is generally at
the blacksmith's, to whom the passing of the coach is an event
fruitful of much speculation. The smith, with the horse's heel in
his lap, pauses as the vehicle whirls by; the cyclops round the
anvil suspend their ringing hammers, and suffer the iron to grow cool;
and the sooty spectre, in brown paper cap, laboring at the bellows,
leans on the handle for a moment, and permits the asthmatic engine
to heave a long-drawn sigh, while he glares through the murky smoke
and sulphureous gleams of the smithy.
Perhaps the impending holiday might have given a more than usual
animation to the country, for it seemed to me as if everybody was in
good looks and good spirits. Game, poultry, and other luxuries of
the table, were in brisk circulation in the villages; the grocers',
butchers' and fruiterers' shops were thronged with customers. The
housewives were stirring briskly about, putting their dwellings in
order; and the glossy branches of holly, with their bright-red
berries, began to appear at the windows. The scene brought to mind
an old writer's account of Christmas preparations:- "Now capons and
hens, beside turkeys, geese, and ducks, with beef and mutton- must all
die- for in twelve days a multitude of people will not be fed with a
little.
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