The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-11-05

funny. tin, ..,-....t .-.. a. Was his air
Of seriousness, almost of pathos. that
made IL so irresistibly amusing.
We said we yearned to hear it, that we
wanted good laugh. and they went down
stairs and fetched Herr Slossenn Boschen.
lie appeared to be quite pleased to sing
it, for he came up at once and sat down to
the piano without another word
''Oh, it will amuse you. You viii laugh, "
whispered the two young men. as they
passed through the room and took up an
unobtrusive position behind the professor
back
Herr Slossenn Boschen accompanied
himself The prelude did not suggest a
comic song exactly 1t was a weird, soul
full air Ii quite made ones flesh creep;
but we murmured to one another that it
was the German method, and prepared to
enjoy it.
| don't understand German myself. |
learned it at school. but forgot every word
of 1t two years after | had left, and have
felt much better ever since. Still | did
not want the people there to guess my
ignorance, so hit upon what thought to
be a rather good idea | kept my eye on
the two young students and followed them.
When they Uttered, | Uttered, when they
roared, | roared. ami also threw in a lit
tie Singer all by myself now and then, as
If | had seen a bit of humor that had
escaped the Others. | considered this par
ticularly artful on my part.
noticed as the song progressed, that a
good many other people seemed TO have
their eye fixed on the two young men as
well as myself These other people also
Uttered when the young men Uttered, and
roared when the young men reared; and
as the two young men Uttered and roared
and exploded with laughter pretty contin-
uously all through the song it went exceed
ingly well
And yet that German professor did not
seem happy AT first. when we began TO
laugh, the expression of his face was one
of intense surprise, as If laughter were the
very last thing be had expected TO be
greeted with We thought this very funny.
we said his earnest manner was half the
humor The slightest hS>t on his part
that he knew how funny he was would
have completely ruined it all As we con
tlnued to laugh his surprise gave way to
an air OF annoyance and indignation, and
ne scowled fercely round upon Us all lex
cept upon the two young men. who, being
behind him, he could not seel That sent
Us into commissions. We told each other
IL would be the death Of rs, this thing.
The words alone. we said. were enough TO
send US into fits, but added TO his mock
seriousneSs-oh, II was too muchi
In the last verse. be surpassed himself
He glowered around upon rs with look Of
such concentrated ferocity that, but for
our being fOrewarned as 10 the German
method Of comic singing. We should have
been nervous, ard be threw such a wailing
uote of agony into the weird music that, If
we had not known it was a funny song, we
might have wept.
He finished amid a perfect shrek Of
.Auehter We said il was the funniest
thing we had heard IN al our lives We
sxld how strange II Was that in the face Of
.nings ike these there should De . pOpu
AZ molten tina, the Germans hadn't any
sense Of humor And we asked the pro
lesser why he didn't translate the song
INTO English 50 that the CON mon people
could understand i, and hear what . real
comic ssng was Ike
Then Herr SlosSenn Boscben get up, and
nsst on awful he sw0re a. - N German