The Sight Of The Presence-Chamber, And Of The Canopy To Shade The
Fauteuil Which Aped A Throne, Made Me Smile.
All the world is a
stage, thought I; and few are there in it who do not play the
Part
they have learnt by rote; and those who do not, seem marks set up to
be pelted at by fortune, or rather as sign-posts which point out the
road to others, whilst forced to stand still themselves amidst the
mud and dust.
Waiting for our horses, we were amused by observing the dress of the
women, which was very grotesque and unwieldy. The false notion of
beauty which prevails here as well as in Denmark, I should think
very inconvenient in summer, as it consists in giving a rotundity to
a certain part of the body, not the most slim, when Nature has done
her part. This Dutch prejudice often leads them to toil under the
weight of some ten or a dozen petticoats, which, with an enormous
basket, literally speaking, as a bonnet, or a straw hat of
dimensions equally gigantic, almost completely conceal the human
form as well as face divine, often worth showing; still they looked
clean, and tripped along, as it were, before the wind, with a weight
of tackle that I could scarcely have lifted. Many of the country
girls I met appeared to me pretty - that is, to have fine
complexions, sparkling eyes, and a kind of arch, hoyden playfulness
which distinguishes the village coquette.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 175 of 189
Words from 46702 to 46954
of 50703
