Page:Illustrations of China and Its People vol. IV.pdf/31

 his trade : the smiling follower of the prophet, encircled by carcases of sheep, ghastly heads, and entrails, stood behind a small wooden counter, knife in hand, giving a tender cut to a blooming slave girl, whose swarthy face was radiant with smiles, and whose cheeks were adorned with patches of rose-coloured paint. At another counter in this butcher's booth, a care-worn mother, with a nursing child in her arms, was fondling some miserable bones, and pleading with a greasy assistant for a bargain; but, frightful to behold, in the shade of the booth, my attention was riveted by a pair of gleaming blood-shot eyes, not indeed those of some ghastly head spitted on a meat-hook, but the hungry orbs of a street beggar, stark naked but for a thick coating of mud with which his body was smeared. A group of Peking street Arabs were tormenting this wretched being, until at last I saw him seize the ringleader, and daub him over with a ball of moist mud which he carried as a weapon.

Adjoining this booth there was the tent of a dramatic reader, or story-teller, entertaining a well-dressed audience, seated before a long table on two rows of forms. At my approach he laid down his lute, and had a sly thrust at the loitering foreigner, which convulsed his hearers with laughter.

Close by this was a cook's shed, with a series of brick ovens and fire-places in front. From these a powerful savour of roasting meats arose. Above a reeking caldron, puddings, spread on a clean board, were temptingly displayed. A group of boys and beggars were gathered in front to enjoy the pleasures of contemplation. The presiding genius of this cuisine, as he stuffed his puddings with their savoury contents, each time announced the fact in a shrill voice to the neighbourhood. His assistant was engaged with his left hand in kneading dough, while with his right hand he twirled his rolling-pin on the board, so as to attract the notice of his customers. The agonized shriek of the master, and the twirling of the pin by the servant combined to maintain a constant stir and apparent bustle, which told upon purchasers. I presented a small boy with two cash. This gift enabled him at once to realize his fondest hopes. He invested in a reeking pudding, and, after a brief but affectionate look, devoured it with a relisii that was truly gratifying.

The footpaths, close to the shops, exhibit a scene of great interest. One has frequently to follow along a narrow space left by a number of coal-laden camels, whose drivers are refreshing themselves at the nearest tea-shop, or else to make a dttottr to avoid damaging the wares which some shop-keeper has spread out upon the ground. Occasionally we brush past the cloth-covered sedan of some high mandarin, whose bearers and followers are shouting that the way must be cleared for the approach of The Great. After this, perhaps, a Tartar lady is encountered, rich in her Jewels and her silken attire. Her face, we can see, is carefully enamelled, and her lower lip is finished with a ravishing spot of vermilion, and behind follow her slave women, who add their own charms to their lord's seraglio, and who bear their mistress's purchases and the ills of their lot with equally stolid indifference.

The liveried servants, or Yamen runners, hurry past in their conical extinguisher hats and red feathers, wearing in their faces an expression of sneaking contempt for the foreigner.

Handicraftsmen ply their trades on every vacant space; and well-dressed merchants bustle to and fro, each intent on business of his own; whilst at every hundred steps at least an equal number of natives pass, who possess no distinctive characteristics, and of whom all that a foreigner can say is that they resemble their neighbours.