The island may
be reached from Amsterdam either by boat, going by way of canal and
returning by sea, or one may take the steam-tram to Monnickendam or
Edam, and then fall into the hands of a Marken mariner. To escape
his invitations to sail thither is a piece of good fortune that few
visitors succeed in achieving.
Marken in winter wears perhaps a genuine air; in the season of tourists
it has too much the suggestion of _opera bouffe_. The men's costume is
comic beyond reason; the inhabitants are picturesque of set design;
the old women at their doorways are too consciously the owners of
quaint habitations, glimpses of which catch the eye by well-studied
accident. I must confess to being glad to leave: for either one was
intruding upon a simple folk entirely surrounded by water; or the
simple folk, knowing human nature, had made itself up and sent out
its importunate young from strictly mercenary motives. In either
case Marken is no place for a sensitive traveller. The theory that
the Marken people are savages is certainly a wrong one; they have
carried certain of the privileges of civilisation very far and can
take care of themselves with unusual cleverness. Moreover, no savage
would cover his legs with such garments as the men adhere to.
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