Perhaps the movable scene of this narrative is still peregrinating New England , and may enable the reader to test the accuracy of my description . The spectacle -- for I will not use the unworthy term of puppet-show -- consisted of a multitude of little people assembled on a miniature stage . Among them were artisans of every kind , in the attitudes of their toil , and a group of fair ladies and gay gentlemen standing ready for the dance ; a company of foot-soldiers formed a line across the stage , looking stern , grim , and terrible enough , to make it a pleasant consideration that they were but three inches high ; and conspicuous above the whole was seen a Merry-Andrew , in the pointed cap and motley coat of his profession . All the inhabitants of this mimic world were motionless , like the figures in a picture , or like that people who one moment were alive in the midst of their business and delights , and the next were transformed to statues , preserving an eternal semblance of labor that was ended , and pleasure that could be felt no more . Anon , however , the old gentleman turned the handle of a barrel-organ , the first note of which produced a most enlivening effect upon the figures , and awoke them all to their proper occupations and amusements . By the self-same impulse the tailor plied his needle , the blacksmith 's hammer descended upon the anvil , and the dancers whirled away on feathery tiptoes ; the company of soldiers broke into platoons , retreated from the stage , and were succeeded by a troop of horse , who came prancing onward with such a sound of trumpets and trampling of hoofs , as might have startled Don Quixote himself ; while an old toper , of inveterate ill habits , uplifted his black bottle and took off a hearty swig . Meantime the Merry-Andrew began to caper and turn somersets , shaking his sides , nodding his head , and winking his eyes in as life-like a manner as if he were ridiculing the nonsense of all human affairs , and making fun of the whole multitude beneath him . At length the old magician -LRB- for I compared the showman to Prospero , entertaining his guests with a mask of shadows -RRB- paused that I might give utterance to my wonder . `` What an admirable piece of work is this ! '' exclaimed I , lifting up my bands in astonishment . Indeed , I liked the spectacle , and was tickled with the old man 's gravity as he presided at it , for I had none of that foolish wisdom which reproves every occupation that is not useful in this world of vanities . If there be a faculty which I possess more perfectly than most men , it is that of throwing myself mentally into situations foreign to my own , and detecting , with a cheerful eye , the desirable circumstances of each . I could have envied the life of this gray-headed showman , spent as it had been in a course of safe and pleasurable adventure , in driving his huge vehicle sometimes through the sands of Cape Cod , and sometimes over the rough forest roads of the north and east , and halting now on the green before a village meeting-house , and now in a paved square of the metropolis . How often must his heart have been gladdened by the delight of children , as they viewed these animated figures ! or his pride indulged , by haranguing learnedly to grown men on the mechanical powers which produced such wonderful effects ! or his gallantry brought into play -LRB- for this is an attribute which such grave men do not lack -RRB- by the visits of pretty maidens ! And then with how fresh a feeling must he return , at intervals , to his own peculiar home ! `` I would I were assured of as happy a life as his , '' thought I. Though the showman 's wagon might have accommodated fifteen or twenty spectators , it now contained only himself and me , and a third person at whom I threw a glance on entering . He was a neat and trim young man of two or three and twenty ; his drab hat , and green frock-coat with velvet collar , were smart , though no longer new ; while a pair of green spectacles , that seemed needless to his brisk little eyes , gave him something of a scholar-like and literary air . After allowing me a sufficient time to inspect the puppets , he advanced with a bow , and drew my attention to some books in a corner of the wagon .
These he forthwith began to extol , with an amazing volubility of well-sounding words , and an ingenuity of praise that won him my heart , XXXXX being myself one of the most merciful of critics .
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