"Hawthorne, Nathaniel - The Celestial Railroad" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hawthorne Nathaniel)

Some of the purchasers, I thought, made very foolish bargains.
For instance, a young man having inherited a splendid fortune, laid
out a considerable portion of it in the purchase of diseases, and
finally spent all the rest for a heavy lot of repentance and a suit of
rags. A very pretty girl bartered a heart as clear as crystal, and
which seemed her most valuable possession, for another jewel of the
same kind, but so worn and defaced as to be utterly worthless. In
one shop, there were a great many crowns of laurel and myrtle, which
soldiers, authors, statesmen, and various other people, pressed
eagerly to buy; some purchased these paltry wreaths with their
lives; others by a toilsome servitude of years; and many sacrificed
whatever was most valuable, yet finally slunk away without the
crown. There was a sort of stock or scrip, called Conscience, which
seemed to be in great demand, and would purchase almost anything.
Indeed, few rich commodities were to be obtained without paying a
heavy sum in this particular stock, and a man's business was seldom
very lucrative, unless he knew precisely when and how to throw his
hoard of Conscience into the market. Yet as this stock was the only
thing of permanent value, whoever parted with it was sure to find
himself a loser, in the long run. Several of the speculations were
of a questionable character. Occasionally, a member of Congress
recruited his pocket by the sale of his constituents; and I was
assured that public officers have often sold their country at very
moderate prices. Thousands sold their happiness for a whim. Gilded
chains were in great demand, and purchased with almost any
sacrifice. In truth, those who desired, according to the old adage, to
sell anything valuable for a song, might find customers all over the
Fair; and there were innumerable messes of pottage, piping hot, for
such as chose to buy them with their birthrights. A few articles,
however, could not be found genuine at Vanity Fair. If a customer
wished to renew his stock of youth, the dealers offered him a set of
false teeth and an auburn wig; if he demanded peace of mind, they
recommended opium or a brandy-bottle.

Tracts of land and golden mansions, situate in the Celestial
City, were often exchanged, at very disadvantageous rates, for a few
years' lease of small, dismal, inconvenient tenements in Vanity
Fair. Prince Beelzebub himself took great interest in this sort of
traffic, and sometimes condescended to meddle with smaller matters.
I once had the pleasure to see him bargaining with a miser for his
soul, which, after much ingenious skirmishing on both sides, his
Highness succeeded in obtaining at about the value of sixpence. The
Prince remarked, with a smile, that he was a loser by the transaction.

Day after day, as I walked the streets of Vanity, my manners and
deportment became more and more like those of the inhabitants. The
place began to seem like home; the idea of pursuing my travels to
the Celestial City was almost obliterated from my mind. I was reminded
of it, however, by the sight of the same pair of simple pilgrims at
whom we had laughed so heartily, when Apollyon puffed smoke and