Page:Mexico, picturesque, political, progressive.djvu/23

Rh courtyards glowing with sunshine and flowers; cobblers, tinkers, tailors, and jewellers sat at work on raised stone platforms outside their houses; and in the central one of the many market-places, around the great circular stone fountain, a mass of women, girls, and boys dipped the water into great red earthen jars, in little gourd-shaped cups with handles like ladles. Of all the many strange sights so far met, this was by far the strangest. Each one, as her laborious work ended, lifted herself for a moment to straighten the cramped muscles, and then with marvellous ease, for what must have been a real effort of strength, swung the tall jar to its place on the left shoulder, held it in position with the bare right arm, and walked off with as much ease as a ball-room belle in the mazes of a country dance. The clamor, the crowd, the utter absorption of each one in her own work, and the strange impression of life it left upon us, it was impossible to describe. Whether the knot of lounging youths was made up of so many Jacobs waiting for these Rachels at the well, was another question. They showed the true Eastern imperturbability, while the women did the work.