The vibrations of the stones
Confirm the memories of old
A witness to the ancestors
They share a story told

Found on the Internet

         On the third day of Creation, God made earth, that means me as well. I am the Stone. You know a stone is not just a part of creation, it is the manifestation of firmness, steadiness, eternity. This is my approach for the perception of life.
         I have lived a long life. Whatever roles I have had to perform!
         I was a head stone, a lapis offensionis, a stumbling stone. I easily could be the point of rest Archimedes had been searching for in order to move the Earth! I was a premium for prehistoric people, that is what the pried was called the Stone Age. I was of greatest important for ancient soldiers armed with slings. I was a weapon. Even in the modern history, in Russia they used to say, 'a cobblestone is the tool of the proletariat.'
         I have not only historical, philosophical, architectural, military and religious merits, but dark and mystic experience as well. Remember Stonehenge?
         But now I will tell you how my life became entwined with the lot of St Petersburg.
         One day, Jesus Christ gave a new name to his follower, Simon. Christ said, 'That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church." And the point was the Peter in Greek means stone.
         For this reason, when the founder of St Petersburg Peter the Great (named after the Apostle) gave this name to his new capital city, he commemorated me in this name as well!
         I was brought to St Petersburg in the first quarter of the eighteenth century, following his emperors edict on 'provision of wild stones'. My namesake Peter dreamt of building a city of stone, and he left no stone unturned to do it. They started to use stones to pave the streets and face the riverbanks, and there I was a cobblestone on the embankment of the Neva River.
         Through history, millions of feet, both bare and shod, hooves of horses, wheels of carts, carriages and vehicles, and tracks of tanks have passed over me.
         I do remember immaculate and firm marching of soldiers' boots during parades, humble and out-of-step pacing of militia-men going for the defense of the city during the Second World War.
         I do remember the sharp slides of sleds carrying bodies of people who had died of starvation and buckets of water for those still struggling to survive when the city was besieged. Over two million of my fellows were brought to cemeteries to serve as gravestones at that time.
         They say that water caves in stone. This is not true in my case. I have outlived so many floods, very frequent in this city, and I was not always sure that the ferocious Neva waters would come back to their granite boundaries.
         The most frightening thing was human blood. Alas, I saw too much of it. It was shed upon me in drunken fights, street accidents. And it was flowing on me in times of disturbances, revolutions and repression. When will you people learn that you should not throw stones?
         But I also have happy memories: great victory fireworks of 1945, citizens waltzing around, crying, happy and proud!
         But recollections are not my only entertainment. I always have things to do. I like to watch the Baltic sky change colours from azure to pink, and sometimes lead. And after frequent St Petersburg rains, I reflect the clouds and catch the suns rays to dry and warm up.
         Another of my favourite pastimes is to listen to people talking. Sometimes I can catch only bits and pieces, but when I am lucky, I have a group of tourists with a guide stopping nearby on the embankment and I get so much news and entertainment!
         Indeed, I know Pushkin, and still remember him muttering on his way, and tapping his cane on me. I also remember Gogol and Dostoyevsky and many other celebrated writers. The whole Mansion of the Russian Literature was built using St Petersburg stones.
         
         And do you know how many times easel legs rested on me? So many artists were drawn here to depict in watercolours, coal or oil the magnificent beauty of St Petersburg the City of Stone.
         I conclude with a piece of advice: respect stones of your hearths and stones of your streets.
         Treasure the earth you walk upon.
         Remember the Bible. Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy.