Litchfield enquirer., 1876-12-28
From the Atlantic Monthly.l FROM PoMKAPoc TO PESTH. BY T. B. ALDRIoH.
A SLIGHT GLANCE AT CERTAIN MANNERS AID
 CUSTOMS.

name of little New England village from which the writer sallied forth, year ago, s.strange countrees for to see." Ponka- pog scarcely merits description, and Pesth-the farthest point east to which his wanderings led him-has been too of. ten described. He is thus happily reliev- ed of the onus of making strictly good | the title of this paper, whose chief merit, indeed, is that it treats of neither Pesth nor Ponkapog.
 IJ was roundabout road the writer took to reach the Hungarian capital,-a road that carried him as far north as h. 1 verness, Scotland, and as far south as Naples. But the ground he passed over had been worn smooth by the feet of mil lions of tourists and paved three deep with ''books of travel" He was too wise to let anything creep into his notebook beyond bit of landscape here and there, \ street scene in sepia, or an outline ! sketch of some custom or peculiarity that chanced to strike his fancy,-and these he offers modestly to the reader.
 There is one thing which sometimes comes near taking the joy out of the heart of foreign travel. It is one of those tri- fes which frequently prove severer test to philosophy than calamities. In the East this thing is called bdkhshish, in Germany tri,,kgeld. in Italy buonanaa,so, in France pour6oire, x in England-I do not know how it is called in England. but l soft. insidious syllable it may wrap itself, l it is nothing but hateful. A piece of money VI hich is not earned by honest ser- vice, but is extracted from you as a mat l ter of course by any vagabond who may | start out of the bowels of the earth, like gnome or kobold, at the sound of your 1 footfall, is shameless coin: it debases him that gives and him that takes.
 Everywhere on the Continent the tour ist is looked upon as a bird to be plucked, and presently the bird himself feebiy comes to regard plucking as his proper destiny, and abjectly holds out his wing so long as there is feather left on it. l say everywhere on the Continent, but, in- deed. man of ordinary agility might walk over the greater part of Europe on the outstretched palms of the lower class. es. Russians and Americans have the costly reputation of being lavish of money on their travels,- latter are pictured by the fervid Italian imagination to reside in gold-mines located in Carolina and va- rious parts of the State of New York; and are consequently favorites. The Frenchman is too artful and the Briton too brusqe to cut up we'll as victims. The Italian rarely ventures far from his accus- toned flea, but when he does, like the German (who, on the other hand, is fond of travelingl, he voyages on a most eco- nomical basis. He carries off the unbnrnt candle-end, and his .gratuities are homoe- pathic. In spite of his cnnning, have no doubt-I should be sorry to doubt that his own eountrymen skin him alive
 In Italysoue is besiaeed hy beggars morning, noon and night; small coin generally sufices. and little good nature always goes great way; for they are childish race; there is something innocent in thelr deepest strategy, and something very winning in the amiability with which they will accept the situation when their yillainy IS frustrated. Sometimes, how. ever, when tue petitioner is not satisfied with your largess,-as always happens when you give him more than he expect ed.-he is scarcely polite. learned this from a venerable ex sailor in Genoa. "Go, brigand r was the candid advice of that my relatives, the family tomb, and every
 
 warming in his pocket.
 It is fair to observe that the Italian beg gar usually renders tribute to an abstract idea of manhood by assuming that he has done you some sort of service. This ser vice is not generally visible to the unaided eye, and fancy that the magnifying glass of sufficient power to enable you always to detect it has yet to be invented. Bnt it is to his everlasting praise that he often does try to throw a veil of decency over the naked injustice of his demand, though he is too apt to be content with the thin nest of fabrics. I have paid Neapolitan gentleman ten sous for leaning against a dead-wall i'll front of hotel window. The unexpectedness and the insinuating au- daclty of the appeals frequently take away your presence of mind and leave you limp. There was an old son of Naples who dwelt on a curb-stone near the Castel delf Ovo. Stumbling on his private pub lie residence quite unintentlonally one forenoon, 1 was immediately assessed. Ever after lie claimed me, and finally brought his son in-law to me and intro duced him as person combining many of the most desirable qualities of pen. sioner. One of hls strong points was that he had been accidentally carried off to America, having fallen asleep one day in the hold of frult vessel.
 But, sir" said, s.why should give you anything? don't know you"
 ''That is the reason, sipnor."
 At bottom it was an excellent reason. If I paid the father-in-law for the pleasure of knowing him, was it not logical and just that should pay the son-in. law for the much greater pleasure I had had in knowing him? The slightest thing will serve, in Italy, for lien upon your ex- 'chequer. An urchin who turna himself into Catherine wheel at your carriage side. or stands on his head under the very hoofs of your horses, approaches you with the confidence of a prodigal son. three-day old nose-gay thrown into one garment the right to cling to the foot board of your cettura until you reimburse her. In driving from Pompeii to Sorren- to, no fewer than fifty of these floral tri- butes will be showered upon you. The little witches who throw the flow CTS are very often pretty enough to be caught and sculptured. An inadyertent glance towards fellow sleeping by tue roadside places you at once in B. false position: I have known an even less compromising thing than turn of the eyelid to estab- hsh financlal relations between the stran. ger and the native I have known a 1 sneeze to do it. One morning, on the Mole at Venice, an unassuming effort of my own in this line was attended by most unexpected result Eight or ten young ragamufins, who had been summing themselves at gondola landing, instantly started up from recumbent posture and advanced upon me in semiclrcle, with Salute. signor, salute v One of these youths disturbed preconceived idea of mine by suddenly exclaiming,-
 I am boy Americana, dam!' eH As had not come so far from home to relieve the necessities of my own country men. and as Irefected that possibly this -regues companions were also profane tAmericanos. 1 gave them nothing but a genial smile. which they divided among them with. h.the resignation tha. seems to be national trait
 We met fellow.countryman in Paris whs fell into