Still, I grew anxious to be gone. There
was one strange thing that troubled me; amid the occupations or
amusements of the Fair, nothing was more common than for a person-
whether at a feast, theatre, or church, or trafficking for wealth
and honors, or whatever he might be doing, and however unseasonable
the interruption- suddenly to vanish like a soap-bubble, and be
never more seen of his fellows; and so accustomed were the latter to
such little accidents, that they went on with their business, as
quietly as if nothing had happened. But it was otherwise with me.
Finally, after a pretty long residence at the Fair, I resumed my
journey towards the Celestial City, still with Mr. Smooth-it-away at
my side. At a short distance beyond the suburbs of Vanity, we passed
the ancient silver mine, of which Demas was the first discoverer,
and which is now wrought to great advantage, supplying nearly all
the coined currency of the world. A little further onward was the spot
where Lot's wife had stood for ages, under the semblance of a pillar
of salt. Curious travellers have long since carried it away piecemeal.
Had all regrets been punished as rigorously as this poor dame's
were, my yearning for the relinquished delights of Vanity Fair might
have produced a similar change in my own corporeal substance, and left
me a warning to future pilgrims.
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