The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-02-17
TIE INFLuENzA PLAY.
a Play Acte d in Nuremberg and Augs-
burg During the Middle Ages.

From the london Globe.
VI miracle plays and passion plays every
school boy has heard; but who knows of
the old influenza plays, as played at MUIR
emberg and Augsburg in the middle ages!
1t IS a strange idea to dramatizs an epi-
demic, and make the plague stalk abroad
in human form over the boards; but then
the Parisians have had their Jack L'Even-
treur," which is an uncOuth subject enough,
so we must not grudge the poor Bavarian
OF the fifteenth century his influenza play.
Perhaps 1t cheered up his spirits when he
had cold in the head and could not sleep o.
night Tor coughing, ami it was probably
more ethcacious than jugs Of tlsdne.
DATE OF THE ORIGIN.
Well, it was about the beginning of the
fifteenth century, A. ID. 14l4 says the chron-
Iclers, that this stra ge dramatic mon
stroslty was born. The year was a very
unlucky one; everyone down with bad
colds and pains in the head, symptoms very
much like those in vogue at present, as a
local Dryasdust surmises. VINO has IN
hearthed the influenza play out of molder
ing archives somewhere III Baden, and to
whom we are deeply grateful The peo-
pie called 1t 'IannewetZeln or "Tanawech-
SELF (Englished, blow on the templeS), be-
cause OF the unpleasant feeling you had in
your head when attacked by it. Nothing
could stay the course of the epidemic
Kaiser Sigismund, who was then to the
fore, was too busy with healing the dis
cords of mother church at the council of
Constance to have much time for curing
the colds of his lieges. Besides, Dryasdust
would tell you that kaiser who is "above
grammar" as Sigismund vas, and did, in
fact, know no Latin, could not possibly
cure such a simple thing as a bad cold in
fDA head "a Of
no avail; probably they had their own four
teen feet in hot mustard and water the
while. But the burghers of Nuremberg
made the best of a bad Job. They sent for
their carpenters and built a wooden stage
and summoned their preutices to the play.
And the prent1ces played right merrily;
and this was the manner of the perform
ance.
FIGURES IN THE PLAY.
First came figure dressed up to repre-
sent the influenza on the stage, quite like
death in the "Alcestisn only not SO tragic
The scene represents large court of JUS
tIce-perhaps because colds are best caught
in such places. The figure, called "Tana-
wechsel," as we said just now, is summoned
to the bar, and behind him comes a motley
crowd of his hapless yictims-king, knight,
scholar, merchant, peasant, nun, and fair
damSel, whom the plague has not spared.
And they all began with one accord to
make complaint unto the marshal and four
assessors, who sit at hand to hear the cause.
The king begins by virtue of his high office,
and he soiemnly swears that he cannot 90
to war against the Paynim for that he has
running at the nose, and can, indeed,
scarce speak for the catarrh. Sir Knight
has lost his dame, who has been carried off
by the plague; the fair damsel mourns the
death of her father; the scholar has lost all
pleasure in holiday rambles over moor and
fell, and must stop at home instead and
pore over hornbook and musty old parch-
ment; the merchant from Augsburg knew
of good thing in flax, but could not get
even to the mart at Nuremberg, and so he
had been forced to stay at home, and grum-
bic not little AS for the little nun, her
tale was that she had forgotten to tell her
beads, and could not keep early mass for
her influenza, and HAD coughed so much at
the midday service that she had disturbed
her sisters devotions. Now, whenithey had
all made an end of speaking, the marshal
made the prisoner at the bar plead In his
defence. Then spake the "Tanawechsel,n
and, as is the wont of prisoners, declared
his innocence. He was poor maligned in
huenza; it was the accusers who had
brought their sorrow on themselves The
king had drunk too much Tauber wine; the
scholar had been singing love songs by
night and had caught a chill; the citizen of
Augsburg udu ulu0Q 100 we'll AT Tie 'Inre6
Moors;h the fair damsel had naught to COM
plain of, for her father was old aud WELL
stricken in years; as for the knight, his
dame had pinched her waist when she was
fat and forty; while the nun had not taken
open air exercise with hawk and hounds.
So spake the accused. Whereupon judg-
ment was pronounced. All the judges were
OF opinion that the prisoner was guilty, and
should die the death by the sword. No con-
venient home secretary of criminal appeal
court existing at Nuremberg, he is led off
straightway to the scaffold "Poor Tana-
wechsel" says his prayers. and then hey
prestol Master Pausenhart, the headsman,
has his head off in a twinkling. And so
dies Influenza, not without honors of a
funereal kind.
Such was the influenza play at Nurem-
berg, A. d. 14l4, or thereabouts. 1t was
initiated, after a fashion, at Posen last
Saturday, on the Polish stage there. But
it was not so homely or SO quaint as the old