Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-11-06
KING LUpwIa,s ENCORE.

ant told that In German concert or
opera they hardly ever encore q song ; that,
though they may be dying to hear 1t again,
their good breeding usually preserves them
against requiring the repetition. Kings may
encore; that is quite another matter. IL
delights everybody to see that the KING is
pleased; and. as to the actor eneored,
his pride and qualification are simply
boundless Still there are circumstances
in which even royal encore-but 1t Is best
to illustrate. The King OF Bavaria is a
poet, and has a poets eccentricities, with
the advantages over all other poets OF being
able to crafty them, no matter what form
they may take He is fond of opera, but
not fond of sitting in the presence OF an
audience. Therefore, it has sometimes &C.
Cured In Munich that when an opera has
been concluded, and the players are getting
off their paint and finery, a commend has
come TO get their paint and finery on
again. Presently the king would arrive,
solitary and alone, and the players would
begin at the beginning and do the entire
opera over again, with only that enc indi-
yidual in that vast, solemn theater, for an
audience Once be took an odd freak IN
his head. High up and out of sight, over
the prodigious stage of the court theateT,
Is maze of interlacing water pipes, so
pierced that in case OF ire innumerable lit
tie threadlike streams of water can be
caused TO descend, and, In case oil need,
this discharge can be augmented to a pour.
ing food. American managers mn gh5 make
note of that. The king was the sole au-
dience. The opera proceeded. 1t was
piece with a storm in it. Tie mimic
thunder began to mutter, the mimic wind
began to wall and sough, and the mimic
ram, TO patter The kings interest rose
higher and higher it developed into en-
tiiusiasm. He cried out
- 1t is good, very good, indeed Bat
will have real rain. Tam on the water
The manager pleaded for a reversal of
the command, said II would ruin the costly
scenery and the splendid costumes; but
the King cried,
No matter, no matter. l will have
real rain! Turn on the water p
So the real rain was turned on. and began
to descend IL gossamec lances to the mimic
fower-bo ds and gravel walks Of the stage,
The richly. dressed actresses and actors
tripped about, singing bfavcly, and pre-
tended not to mind il. The King was de-
lighted; his enthusiasm grew higher. lie
cried out,
Bravo, bravo! More thunder More
lightning Tan On more rain I"
The thunder doomed, the lightning
glared, the storm wind ragged, the deluGe
poured down The mimic royalty OF the
stage, with their soaked satins clinging to
their bodies, stopped round ankle-deep in
the water, warblipg their sweetest ami
best; the tiddlers, under the caves of the
stage, sawed away for dear life, with the
cold overflow spouting down the backs Of
their necks; and the dry and happy King
sat in his lofty box and wore his gloves to
ribbons applauding.
More YETI" cried the King "More
yet let loose the thunder! Turn on all
the water! | will hang the man that
raises an umbrella !"
When the most tremendous and effective
storm that had ever been produced in
any theater was at last over, the Kings
appreciation was measureless. lie cried
" Magnificent, magnificent Encore
Do it again p
But the management succeeded in per-
suading him to recall the encore. aud said
the company would feel sufficiently re-
AdIuGN anu CUu pillAiOAilSu III OttS AAlSAS Low
that the encore was demanded by His Ma
iesty, without iatiguing him with a repeti-
ton TO gratify their own vanity.
During the remainder of the act, the
lucky performers were these whose
parts required charges of dress. The
others were d soaked, bedraegled, and ia
comfortable lot, but in the last degree
picturesque The stage scenery was
ruined, trap doors were so swollen they
wouldn't work for week afterward, the
fine costumes were spoiled, and no end of
MINOR damages were done by that remark
able storm.
1t was royal idea-that storm-and
royalty carried out. But observe the
moderation OF the King lie did not insist
upon the encore. Ii he had been 3 glad
some, unref citing American opera aadi-
enoe. he probably would have had his storm
repeated and until he drowned all those
people. Il Mark Twain.