Farther, I was astonished by a sight which, of all other, I
here the least expected. I perceived to the right, in the hollow of
the cavern, a whole subterranean village, where the inhabitants, on
account of its being Sunday, were resting from their work, and with
happy and cheerful looks were sitting at the doors of their huts
along with their children.
We had scarcely passed these small subterranean houses when I
perceived a number of large wheels, on which on week days these
human moles, the inhabitants of the cavern, make ropes.
I fancied I here saw the wheel of Ixion, and the incessant labour of
the Danaides.
The opening through which the light came seemed, as we descended,
every moment to become less and less, and the darkness at every step
to increase, till at length only a few rays appeared, as if darting
through a crevice, and just tinging the small clouds of smoke which,
at dusk, raised themselves to the mouth of the cavern.
This gradual growth, or increase of darkness, awakens in a
contemplative mind a soft melancholy. As you go down the gentle
descent of the cavern, you can hardly help fancying the moment is
come when, without pain or grief, the thread of life is about to be
snapped; and that you are now going thus quietly to that land of
peace where trouble is no more.
