A Tourist's guide to Ireland
Excerpt:
THE tourist is at the mercy of every kind of ruffian. Although every country holds out welcoming hands to him, it is only for the purpose of robbing him of all he possesses, and if he is caught escaping, at the end of his holiday, with even a small silver coin in his pockets, it's more than likely that the Customs officers are going to fine him to that amount for taking away on his shoes some of the country's mud. And yet, even though the tourist is mulcted in this scandalous manner, in every country, he is always looked upon as a low fellow, an inquisitive, vulgar beggar, a loud-mouthed trot-about, a coarse eater foreigner.
There are jokes in every piece of literature about his capacity for snoring, about his clothes and about his wife, who seems to be always either very fat or very skinny. Now, why is this? I have come to the conclusion that it all results from the tourist being ignorant of the countries into which he goes for a visit.
True enough, he is provided by the railways and by the tourist agencies with a great deal of information, but very little of it is credible except by a gullible and excitable person like a tourist. Information is scattered broadcast, on handbills, in newspapers, and on posters produced by artists who should have more respect for their art than prostituting it to the service of such sharp practices (to put it nicely).
But this infor-mation concerns itself solely with the geographical nature of the country, with hotels and railways and such things. In- formation as to the character and habits of the people is never given, at least to my knowledge.
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