7
m ay lead to an un pleasan t re su lt, for he
h a s the
co u n try ’s law on his side. Sw ept crossings a re n o t
un dersto o d ; so th a t in w et w eath er the w alking is
doubly bad.
A m an w ith a b room m ig h t m ake a
fortune betw een the corner o f Ø sterg ade an d th e
statue in K ongens N ytorv.
Often h av e I suggested
th is m ode of earning m oney to a p oor m an ask in g
a lm s ; bu t the idea h as startled th e m : none w ill be
th e first in such a novel undertaking.
T here are two d ay s in the y ear, one in A pril,
the other in O ctober, on w hich, " o r day before o r
d ay after,” should a stran g er a rriv e in C openhagen
he w ould be not
a littleastonished.T h e tow n h a s
th e ap pearance o f its inh ab itan ts flying w ith th e ir
effects, as though an enem y w ere a t the gates.
It
is "F ly tted a g !” the h a lf y e arly m oving day, w hen
e v ery fam ily in ev ery hou se m ay deposit in th e
streets all the accum ulated dirt and filth o f the last
six m o n th s ,
o f w hich
th e p o o r contribute th eir
q u o ta in the old
straw stuffing ofth eir m attrasses
w ith all th eir live s to c k ! Should it blow a gale o f
w ind on th a t d a y , im agination can conceive th e
scene w hich description w ould fail to paint. P eo p le
a re h u rry in g to and fro — fu rn itu re driven an d
carried in all directions — the g re atest confusion
prevailing — one fam ily m oving th e ir effects into
a set o f room s w hile the other .fam ily is m oving
theirs o u t; fo r, a t 12 o’clo ck , the old occupants