, 1888-08-19
OLD MOTHER Moscow
Affection with Which the City is Re-
Earded by tho Russian P~easantrr.

Affection with Which the City Is Re-
garded by the Russian Peasantry.
In the jealous talk and rising enthusi-
asm of the peasants one may gather O
whole philosophy of the affectionate in
terest with which Moscow is regarded by
the people. Russia has q unique litera-
ture-partly in prose, partly in rhyme
of the popular sayings about Moscow,
and these the travelling agriculturists
love to repeat in a sort of patriotic COM
petition, and with a view of determining
which can recall the largest number.
Some of these sayings relate to Moscow
as a city, such as: Moscow was not
built at once; it took ages to build
Moscow" Moscow was created by the
nges; st. Petersburg by %millions;'' ''Mos-
COW with its seven seigniories-seven
shepherds to one sheep;" Moscow,
mother of all %cities;' "Humpbacked
Moscow, built upon hills; - "fWho in
Moscow ne'er has been, he a beauty
meier has SEEM" and Moscow, white
stoned, golden domed, hospitable, ortho-
dox, loquacious, tsar loving" Others
describe Moscow as an ecclesiastical CEN
ter: SIN Moscow there are forty times
forty churches" Elm Moscow every day
is a holiday" moscow matin chimes
may be heard on the Vologda."
Among the general illusions are:
Live, live, children, until you have seen
Moscow" at is high in the terem, but
far to Moscow" There is plenty of room
in Moscow" Moscow is not a suburb;''
at is refreshing to live on the Don; it is
gay to live in Moscow" moscow Is not
obliged to initiate, follow, be led
or influenced by the star, but the
toar ,~,,,A l.. IL l. I'm
bread and salt in Moscow is like listen
ing to sweet music;'' Moscow is re-
nowned for its virgins, its bells and its
bread rolls" ''There is never a bad har-
vest of bread in Moscow ''Moscow
mud does not soil;" 'In Moscow the
bread rolls burn like fire. A pessimistic
vein is disclosed by such sayings as:
Moscow loves money!" ITO one Mos
COW is a mother, to another a mother
in-law;" They calculate to the last
copek in Moscow I" praise Moscow af-
ter you have seen it, Moscow delay;''
Nothing is to be had as a gift in Mos
cow" Four rhymes contain some of
those touches of nature that make the
whole word kin: 'Our native village is
more beautiful than Moscow Moscow
is a kingdom, our village Is a paradise;''
at is good to be iu Moscow, but not like
being at home" and you will find
everything in Moscow except your own
father and mother"
The real Moscow, as distinct from the
Moscow of the proverb, the guide book
and the literary description, stands alone
among cities, as Russia stands alone
among countries. The ground which it
occupies is a vast circular plain, into the
southern half of which the river Moskva
penetrates like a blunt wedge. The city
has a kreml or fortress for its center fac
ing the w-atercourse, and around it nave
been built successive concentric rings of
urban growth, representing in the order
of recession the business, residential and
village portions of the old capital. That
is to say, the church lies at the core of
life in Moscow; commerce comes next,
bound to the ecclesiastical center by the
closest ties; third in line stand house
keeping and pleasure; last of all live hud-
died together the dependent and impov-
erished classes of one of the richest cities
in the world. The parallel between the
structural and the sociological order in
Moscow is thus Complete. Edmund No
BILE in Atlantic Monthly.