“It’s my master‘s orders， so there！” said Shasta. But it would have been better if he had held his tongue for the soldier gave him a box on the side of his face that nearly knocked him down and said， “Take that， you young filth， to teach you how to talk to freemen.” But they all slunk into the city without being stopped. Shasta cried only a very little； he was used to hard knocks.
Inside the gates Tashbaan did not at first seem so splendid as it had looked from a distance. The first street was narrow and there were hardly any windows in the walls on each side. It was much more crowded than Shasta had expected： crowded partly by the peasants （on their way to market） who had come in with them， but also with watersellers， sweetmeat sellers， porters， soldiers， beg gars， rag ged children， hens， stray dogs， and bare.footed slaves. What you would chiefly have noticed if you had been there were the smells， which came from unwashed people， unwashed dogs， scent， garlic， onions， and the piles of refuse which lay everywhere.