They heard Vanity Fair before they saw it. Drums, shouts from sellers, and laughter crowded together. The air smelled of sweets and hot oil. Chris saw colorful flags hanging from rooftops, toys that turned by themselves in shop windows, and mirrors beside the street that made people’s clothes look like gold.
“Does the road to the Celestial City have to go through here?” he asked.
Faithful checked the sign. “We have to cross it. Keep your things close, and don’t look only at what shines.”
But Chris could not help thinking of the City of Destruction. There were jewels like his mother’s necklaces, coin boxes his father would like, and a cloth rabbit that nodded its head. He went closer to the rabbit stall. Remembering how tightly his sister hugged her old rabbit, he suddenly wanted very much to take a new one home.
The toy seller smiled at once. “No money needed. Just get up on that platform and join in laughing at that child.” Nearby, a little girl in worn clothes had been forced to stand on a raised platform. The people below were making fun of her shoes and the way she spoke.
Chris looked at the new rabbit and slowly lowered his hand. He had joined in laughing at another child before. Back then, he had thought that if he laughed too, he would not be the one everyone laughed at.
“I don’t want it.”
“You won’t even join a joke? What a bore.” The seller turned to another customer. Chris and Faithful went around to the platform and asked the girl to come down. Someone stopped them, saying the show was not finished. Faithful made them hand over the money she had earned and led her away from the crowd.
A hat seller blocked their way and asked what they had come to buy. Faithful answered, “We need honest trade, and a road we can walk along in peace.” The man acted as though this was the funniest thing he had ever heard and immediately called others over to listen.
The crowd grew. Some people pushed them. Someone took Chris’s waterskin. Others said they were pretending to be better than everyone else. Squeezed so tightly he could hardly breathe, Chris nearly shouted something cruel. Faithful kept him close and asked him to take the girl to the old woman selling bread first.
The girl’s hand was cold. Chris led her behind the table and made sure the old woman would look after her before returning to Faithful. By then, two guards had arrived. They accused the travelers of spoiling the fair’s fun and said they must come with them.
“We haven’t hit anyone or stolen anything,” Chris said.
“You’ve upset the customers,” the guards answered.
Faithful asked Chris to explain what had happened, one thing at a time. When he spoke about the child on the platform, his voice was small at first, then grew a little stronger. Some people stopped laughing. Others began avoiding his eyes.
But the guards still shut them in a small room enclosed by iron bars. Outside, the music played on and more lamps were lit. Sitting beside Faithful, Chris realized for the first time that noise and excitement were not always the same as happiness.
