The World's Fair by Anonymous
page 11 of 158 (06%)
page 11 of 158 (06%)
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Exhibition; and very good specimens they are, too. Russia is not such
a pleasant country, in some respects, as any of those I have been telling you of; for in the winter the frost is so severe that many of the poor Russians die from cold. The rich wrap themselves up in warm furs, and ride in fur-lined sledges, instead of the usual carriages; but the poor people are forced to continue working out of doors at their various employments, being very careful, however, to cover their legs, hands, and head with fur, lest they should be bitten with the frost, which sometimes seizes those parts and turns them white. Though many of the poor women stand for hours together, washing their linen in holes cut in the ice, without getting frozen, yet it often happens that coachmen and other servants have been frozen to death in the streets at night, while waiting for their masters. At the end of every year, the Russians keep a long fast, and as soon as it is over, lay in their store of winter's provisions, at a market held once a-year on the river Neva, which is then frozen over. I should like you to see this market, it is so full of gaiety and singularity, while the high piles of frozen provisions look so picturesque along the ice. The Russians are remarkable for their cheerfulness and contentment, and are so fond of singing, that they are always enjoying a song when at work. Russian songs are very different from ours, and sound rather odd to us. The food of the common people is black rye bread, sometimes, by way of treat, stuffed with onions, carrots, or green corn, and seasoned with sweet oil. They use eggs, salt fish, bacon, and mushrooms, of which last they have a great plenty. The men are ordinarily dressed in loose trousers; short coats of sheep-skin, tied with a sash round their waists, and folds of flannel, fastened round with pack-thread, |
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