The Durham recorder. [volume] (Durham, N.C.) 1879-19??, 1891-06-03
THE SUNNY sIi,E or LIFE.
Laughter That Makes One For
get tine DaiIy Grind.

1 New Orleans Times Democrat.
v NWhy we laugh is a ques-
tion often asked, but the sourc-
es Of laughter are so many and
| lie SO far apart that it would be
| no light task to enumerate them.
The. Jest has not all seasons
| for its own. a large and res
pectable class of persons are
unable TO recognize a joke as
such, unless they see it duly
labeled in the funny column. Z
But il you are mo such man,
| the yeriest trifiemay set you off,
and cause you to quake help
Ilessly with mirth. You grin
when you find that your friend
is described in the morning pa
per as having had houses, =
instead of "honors, showered
upon him; or when, in>his SON
net, the tviewless train of poesy'I
masquerades as the 'syiewless
train Of palsy" Yet were the
case your own, there would be
nothing diYertlng in it; for no
matter how robust your sense Of
humor may be, it will scarcely
carry you far enough to make
you appreciate a joke of that
sort at your own expense. If a
goat or a dog marches into
church, a subdued litter runs
through the congregations
either because Of the incongru-
BUSINESS of such an episode, or
because anything that breaks
off a long continued train of
thought is welcome. Inter-
course with those unconscious
humorists whose blunders and
absurdities are treasure trove to |
their acquaintances yields al
double sense of qualification, |
not only amusement, buta sooth-
ing consciousness of your own |
superior mental qualities. But |
whatsoever the prov0cation, if |
you are not in the mood the
jolliest quip falls fiat; for sor-
row is more easily compelled
than mirth. We hear Of croco-
die tears, but never Of crocodile |
laughter, though the genus is
noted for fine teeth. You can,
at a pinch, weep with those who
weep; but TO counterfeit enjoy
ment Of their old stories would
be a much more difficult matter.
DIFFERENT STANDARDS.
Each grade Of society seems
to have its own standard Of
humor. The delicate finesse Of |
polished wit, as exemplified by
"The School for Scandal or i
"The Rivals" worthily staged |
and acted, is lost upon the dis
ciple Of McGinty.
II can be imagined that prim-
tive mans conception of a jest
must have been of the same
crude nature, and that the
grimace Of pain or the spectacle
Of q fellow stumbling into. a
ditch was needed TO call forth
his infrequent guffaw. Hence,
the growth of the
practical joke. a. & i
We can mark the traces of
such rough-and-tumble ideas of
wit in the horse play Of the old
and comedies. The jests !
were driven in with a bludgeon.
pates and bleeding
noses spoke more forcibly to-
the groundlings than the swift
thrust and parry of dialogue; IL
one person tripped and tumbled
il was irresistibly droll, and
when two or three sprawled
in q heap the mirth became
boisterous. Such a simple me-
thod of quadrupling humorous
effects must have been a boon
TO the dramatist. The public Of
that time laughed because they
felt like it, after the manner 81
but today, since we
have stopped TO ask ourselves
why we laugh, oarlaughter has
naturally become less loud and
Nothing better illus
trates this change Of standpoint
than the recent theory that
Omar khayyam's praises oflove
and wine arc really chants Of
religious ecstIsy. Regarding
Don Quixote rather as q pathet.
Ic that a comic figure, we find
il hard to understand how the
recital Of his misadventures
laughed Spaln'sc chiyalry away.
Our ideasof what is laugh
worthy shift with age. "Ver-
iant Green,n with its jolly ad-
of Bouncer and Gig
Lamys, Charley Larkins and
Pretty Patty Honeywood,
Fair and sweet and plump,
j. side splitting al fifteen, but
do not spoil q cheerful memory
by attempting'it again at thirty.
'Midshipman Easy" Ii anotherl
essentially young book. The
aged man who can still
grow hilarious over .pickwick"
has preserved q childlikeness Of
heart that should be envied, not
70 careless youth the