HOW POMPEII IMPRESSES ITS VISITORS
"Pompeii was smothered in ashes, however, and most of it is uncovered
now. But while there is much that is fascinating, and all of it is
instructive, there is nothing grand or awe-inspiring in the ruins of
Pompeii. No visitor stands breathless as in the great hall of Karnak or
in the once dreadful Coliseum at Rome, or dreams with sensuous delight
as before the Jasmine Court at Agra.
"The weirdness of the scene possesses us as a haunted chamber might. We
have before us the narrow lanes, paved with tufa, in which Roman wagon
wheels have worn deep ruts. We cross streets on stepping-stones which
sandaled feet ages ago polished. We see the wine shops with empty jars,
counters stained with liquor, stone mills where the wheat was ground,
and the very ovens in which bread was baked more than eighteen centuries
ago. 'Welcome' is offered us at one silent, broken doorway; at another
we are warned to 'Beware of the dog!' The painted figures,--some of
them so artistic and rich in colors that pictures of them are
disbelieved,--the mosaic pavements, the empty fountains, the altars and
household gods, the marble pillars and the small gardens are there just
as the owners left them. Some of the walls are scribbled over by the
small boys of Pompeii in strange characters which mock modern erudition.
In places we read the advertisements of gladiatorial shows, never to
come off, the names of candidates for legislative office who were never
to sit.
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