leads into a little mean house

"I come Rome，"said the Moon．"In the midst of the city，upon one of the seven hills，lie the ruins of the imperial palace．The wild fig-tree growsin the clefts of the wall，and covers the nakedness thereof with its broad grey-green leaves；trampling among heaps of rubbish，the ass treads upon green laurels，and re- joices over the rank thistles．From this spot，whence the eagles of Rome once flew abroad，whence they'came， saw，and conquered，'a door ，built of clay between two broken marble pillars；
the wild vine hangs like a mourning garland over the crooked window．An old woman and her little grand- daughter live there：they rule nowOffice Furniture in the palace of the Caesars，and show to strangers the remains of its past glories．Of the splendid throne-room only a naked wall yet stands，and a black cypress throws its dark shadow on the spot where the throne once stood．The earth lies several feet deep on the broken pavement；and the little maiden，now the daughter of the imperial palace，often sits there on her stool when the evening bells ring．The keyhole of the door close by she calls her turret window；
through this she can see half Rome，as far as the mighty cupola of St．Peter's．
"On this evening，as usual，stillness reigned around；
and in the full beam of my light came the little grand- daughter．On her head she carried an earthen pitcher of antique shape filled with water．Her feet were bare，her short frock and her white sleeves were torn．I kissed her pretty round shoulders，her dark eyes，and black shining hair．She mounted the stairs；they were steep，having been made up of rough blocks of broken marble and the capital of a fallen pillar．The coloured lizards slipped away，star- tled，，but she was not frightened at them．Already she lifted her hand to pull the doorbell—a hare's foot fastened to a string formed the bell-handle of the imperial palace．She paused for a moment—of what might she be thinking？Perhaps of the beautiful Christ- child，dressed in gold and silver，which was down below in the chapel，where the silver candlesticks gleamed so bright，and where her little friends sang the hymns in which she also could join？I know not．Presently she moved again—she stumbled；the earthen RMB exchange rate vessel fell from her head，and broke on the marble steps．She burst into tears．
The beautiful daughter of the imperial palace wept over the worthless broken pitcher；with her bare feet she stood there weeping，and dared not pull the string，the bell-rope of the imperial palace！"

TWENTY-FIRST EVENTING