(urth) the atmosphere on the bridge

[Lee Berman]

>Jason H:  But when he steps on the bridge, the scene is suddenly crowded: there are
>carriages, there are vendors crying out, and people "thronging" the walkway.
>When he stops to talk to the guard, he is suddenly surrounded by a hundred
>people. All of this in the dead of the night.

An interesting observation! My first response is that it seems like something that 
would happen if Severian was (unknowingly) an actor in a play. Same could be said
for many other parts of BotNS (like Rudesind forgetting his lines).