me as if
everybody
was in
good looks
and good
spirits.
Game,
poultry,
and other
luxuries
of the
table were
in brisk
circulation
in the
villages;
the
grocers’,
butchers’,
and
fruiterers’
shops were
thronged
with
customers.
The
housewives
were
stirring
briskly
about,
putting
their
dwellings
in order,
and the
glossy
branches
of holly,
with their
bright red
berries,
began to
appear at
the
windows.
The scene
brought to
mind an
old
