IN the old days， whenGrandpapa wasquitea littleboy，and ranabout inlittle red breeches and a red coat，asash roumd his waist， and a feather in his cap—for that'sthe costume the little boyswore in his time when they weredressed intheirbest—many thingswere verydifferent fromwhat they are now：therewasoftena good dealof show inthe streets—show that we don't see nowadays， because ithas been abolished as too old－fashioned： still， it is veryinteresting to hearGrandfather tell about it．
It must reallyhavebeen a gorgeous sight tobehold， in those days， when the shoemakers shifted their sign， when they changed their guild－hall． The silken flag waved，on it a double－headed eagle was displayed， and a big boot；the youngest lads carried the welcome cup， and the chestofthe guild， and theirshirt－sleeves were adorned withredand white ribbons； the elder ones carried drawn swords，each with alemon stuck on its point．There was a full bandofmusic，andthemost splendid of alltheinstruments wasthe"bird"， as Grandfather called the big stick with thecrescent atthetop，and all manner of dingle-dangles hang- ingtoit， aperfectTurkishclatterofmusic． Thestickwaslifted high in the air， and swung up and down till it jingledagain， and quite dazzled one's eyes when the sun shone onall its glory ofgold， and silver， and brass．
In front of the procession ran theHarlequin，dressedin clothesmade ofall kindsof coloured patches artfullysewn together，with a blackface，and bells on hisheadlike a sledge horse： he beat the people with his bat， whichmade a great clattering without hurting them， and the peo－ple pushed each other in order to move back or move for- ward the next moment．Littleboysandgirlsfell over theirowntoes intothegutter，old women dispenseddigs withtheir elbows，and looked sour，and scolded．One laughed， another chatted； the people throngedthewindowsand door-steps， and even allthe roofs. Thesun shone；and althoughthey had a little rain too， that was good forthe farmer；andwhen theygotwetted thoroughly， they only thought what ablessing it was for thecountry．
And what stories Grandpapa could tell！As a little boyhe had seenallthese finedoings intheir greatest pomp．
The oldest member of the guild used to make a speech fromtheplatform onwhich the shieldwashung up， and thespeechwasin verses，as if ithad beenmade by a poet， as， indeed， it had； for three peoplehad concocted it to－gether， andthey had first drunk a good bowl of punch， sothat the speech mighttunout well．
And the people gave a cheer for the speech， but theyshouted much louder for the Harlequin， whenheappearedinfrontoftheplatform， andmadeagrimace at them．
The fool played the fool most ad- mirably，anddrankmeadoutofspirit－glass－es， whichhethenflung among the crowd， bywhom they were caught up．Grandfatherwasthe possessorofoneofthese glasses， whichhadbeen given him by a plasterer， who had managed to catch it．Such a scenewas really very pleasant； and the shield onthe new guild－house was hung with flowersand green wreaths．
"One never forgets a display like that， however olo one may grow，" said Grandfa－ther． Nor did he forget it， though hesawmany other grandspectacles in his time， and could tell about them too； butit was most pleasant of all to hear him tell about shiftingthe signs inthegreattownitself．
Once，when he was a little boy，Grandpapahadgonethere with his parents．Hehad never yet been in themetropolisofthecountry．There were so many people inthe streets， that he thought that the signs werebeingmoved；and there weremany signs to move here； ahun－dred rooms might have been filledwith them， if they hadbeen hung up inside，and not outside. Atthe tailor's werepictures of all kinds of clothing， to show that he couldstitch up people from the coarsest to the finest;at the to-bacco manufacturer's were pictures of the most charminglittle boys, smoking cigars, just as they do in reality; therewere signs with painted butter and herrings, clerical col-lars, and coffins, and inscriptions and announcements into the bargain. A person could walk up and down for a whole day through the streets, and tire himself out with looking atthe pictures; and then hewould know all about what people lived in the houses,for they had hung out their signs;and, as Grandfather said, it was a very instructive thing,in a great town,to know at once who the inhabitants were. And this is what happinid with these signs,whenGrandpapa came tothe town. He told it me himself, and he hadn' t a "rogue on his back", as mother used to tell me he had when he wanted to make me believe something outrageous, for now he looked quite trustworthy. The first night after he came to the town, there was the most terrible gale ever recorded in the newspapers, a gale such as none of the inhabitants had ever before experi-enced. The air was filled with flying tiles;old wood-work crashed and fell; and a wheelbarrow ran up the street all alone, only to get out of the way. There was a groaning in the air, and a howling and a shrieking, and altogether it was a terrible storm. The water in the canal rose over thebanks, for it did not know where to run. The storm swept over the town, carrying plenty of chimneys with it ,and more than one proud old church spire had to bend, and hasnever got over it from that time. There was a kind of sentry-box,where dwelt the ven-erable old superintendent of the fire brigade, who always arrived with the last engine. The storm would not leave thislittle sentry-box alone, but must needs tear it from its fas-tenings, and roll it down the street; and , wonderfullyenough, it rose up and stopped opposite to the door of thehumble carpenter, who had saved three lives at the lastfire, but the sentry-box thought nothing of that. The barber's sign, the great brazen dish, was carriedaway, and hurled straight into the embrasure of the coun-cillor of justice; and the whole neighbourhood said this looked almost like malice, inasmuch as even her most inti-mate friends used to call the councillor's lady "the Razor" ;for she was so sharp that she knew more about other people's business than they knew about it themselves.
A sign with adried salt fish painted on it flew exact－ly in front of the door of a house where dwelt a man whowrote a newspaper． That was a very poor joke of the gale， which did not rememberthat a man who writes in apaperis not tobejokedwith； forhe is a king in hisown news-paper， and likewise in his own opinion. The weathercock flewto theopposite house， wherehe perched， looking the pictureofmalice—so the neigh- bours said．
The cooper's tub stuck itselfup underthe head of"ladies costumes"．
The eating－house keeper's billoffare，which hadhung athis door in a heavy frame，wasposted by the stormoverthe entrance to the theatre， where nobody went：it wasa ridiculous list—"Horse-radish soup，and stuffed cabbage"．And now people camein plenty.
The fox's skin， the honourable signofthefurrier，wasfoundfastenedtothebell－pullofayoungmanwho always went toearlylecture， and looked like afurledum- brella， and said he was striving after truth， and was con－sidered by his aunt"a model and an example"．
The inscription"Institute for HigherEducation"was foundover the billiard club，andthe Institute itself got the sign"Children brought up by hand"． Now， this was not at all witty，merely naughty； but the storm had doneit， and no one has any control over that．
Itwasa terrible night， and in themorning—only think！—nearly all the signs had changed places：in some places the inscriptions were so malicious， thatGrandfather would not speak of them at all； butI saw thathe was chuckling secretly， andit is possible he was keep－ ingsomething to himself．
The poor people in the town， and stillmore the strangers， were continually making mistakes in thepeople they wanted to see； nor was this to be avoided， when theywentaccordingto thesigns． Thus， for instance，some who wanted to go to a very grave assembly of elderly men，where important affairs were to be discussed， found them－selves in a noisy boys'school， where all the company were leaping over the chairs and tables．
There were also people who made a mistake between the churchand the theatre， and that wasterrible indeed！
Such a storm wehave never witnessed in our day； forthat only happened in Grandpapa's time， when he was quite a little boy． Perhaps we shall neverexperience a storm of the kind， but our grandchildren may； and we canonlyhope andpray that all may stayat home while the stormisshiftingthesigns．
风暴把招牌换了
很久以前，外祖父还是一个很小的孩子，他那时穿着一条红裤子和一件红上衣，腰间缠着一条带子，帽子上插着一根............