The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1891-12-06
M ARK TWAIN.
AT THE SHRINE OF ST. WAGNER.
tcopyrisht 1891 By 9. L. cl,msnsl

reuth. It had been long since we had seen
SUCH multitudes Of excited and struggling
people. 1t took good half hour to pack then,
snd pair them into the trnin-and IL was the
longest train We have yet seen in Europe
Nuremberg had been witnessing this sort Of
experience couple Of times a day for about
two weeks. It gives one an impressive sense
of the magnitude OF this biennial pilgrima &c.
For q pilgrimage is what It is. The devotees
come from the very ends OF tho earth to wor-
ship their prophet In his own Knaba in his
own Mecca.
II you are living In New York or San Fran
cisco or Chicago or anywhere else in America.
and you conclude. by the middle OF May. that
you would like to attond the Bayreuth oper.,
two months and half later. you must use the
cable and get about 1t Immediately. or you will
get no seats. and you must cable for lodgings,
too. Then II you are lucky you will get seuts
in the last row and lodgings in tho fringe OF
the town. II you stop to write you will get
nothing. Thore were plenty OF people in Nu-
remberg when we passed through who had
come on pilgrimage without first securing
seats and lodgings. They had found neither
in Bayreuth: they had walked Dayreuth streets
a while in sorrow. then Rono to Nuremberg
and found neither beds nor standing room.
and had walked those quaint streets all night
waiting for the hotels to open and empty their
these. their defeated brethren and sisters in
the faith. They had endured from thirty to forty
hours railroatng on the Continent OF Europe
with al which that implies OF worry. fatigue
aud financial impover lshmert-and all they
had got and all they wero to get for 1t was
hardness and accw acy In kicking them
selves. acquired by n actice in the back streets
Of the two towns wien other people were in
bed; tor back thtr' must go over that un-
speakable Journey with their pious mission
unfulaled. These Inundated outcasts Ind
the froasy AID uu brushed and Apologize look
OF wet cats and their eyes were glazed with
dowsiney. theJc bodies wore airoop from
crown to sole, and all kind-hearted poo.
pie reira ned Dom asking them II they had
been to Bayp,u th and failed to connect. US
KNOWN bay would lie.
We rer Ahsd here (Bayreuth) about md-after-
noon "t!a r. ny Saturday. We wore OF the
wise. Ead had secured lodgings and opera
seats ra"nt!,s in advance
Ia Apatn musical critic. and did not come
her btaS 10 essays about the operas and de-
Nv beiudsment Hpon their merits. Tho little
ildren OF Dayrcush could do that with finer
Smpathy and u broader Intelligence than 1.
lonly care to bring foIc or Ave pilgrims to the
operas pilgrims able to appreciate thom and
enjoy them. What might write about the
performances to put In my odd tlmo would be
offered to thu public ~ merely cats view OF
"a king. anil not Of dldactic value.
Nett dsS. witch Was sunliaS.' we left for tho
opera house-that is to say. the Wagner
temple "a little after tho middle OF the after
noon. Tho great building stands oil by ITSELF
grand and lonely. on high ground outside tho
town. We wore warned that II Wy arrived
after 4 o'clock We should be obliged to pay two
dollars and half apiece extra by way OF nne
that this Ii the only opportunity Europe otY erS
Of saving money There was n Zig, crowd In
dresses teos the sun me with ine. eject , DO not
mean to intimate that tho ladies were In full
aS IN
The interior 5. Of ths building il si%nlese
clark; The auditorium has tho shape OF u
VIII t STAGE IT the h,t end
tho body OF the house. Each row Of seats OK
tends n an curve from one side Of
four at tho butt elld-eIghtee;n doors to admit
particular door 81 which you are to enter the
house or leave it rs printed on your ticket and
crowding and confusion. are Impossible. Not
s 80 many rs hundred people use any one
land useless ,eiaborsts flreprosf arranse. .
ments., 1t is tho model theatre Of the world.
Misp he IT, e Ts The w ssSd hs aa @
safe even II It We're built Of lueifer matches.
your seat Ia near the centre OF u row and
rank Of about twenty .hys ladies' and ssnti t
men to get to it Yet this causes rs = no trouble.
1ewninutes. Then all ST down. and YOU have
h9r s et down Et.t to the stage. ,o,. ,o....
gloom. The ianereai rustine q dresses and
s low SH5s Z" it d die
sound was left. his profound and imsreas.
lnsly impressive still mess continued yet dur
lns some time-the best preparation Tor Inu: |
III. spectacle. or speech conceivable. should
think our show people would have invented or |
Securing ana TIE ,Sa
audience long ago; Instead OF which they con:
deadly competiton IN ths form Of noise. eos
1ussion; and scattered interest.
soft Oft rich notes rose upon tie @
nd 0a his the fG
wSeS that
were tho clothing Of thoughts which were at
from It at come former time.
played to DARK nouss with The curtain ' doMn
s y vas e1qIisits. It was delieious But
sasss 81 to sas
can make a Wagner opera absolutely perfect
and satisfactory to the untutOrod but to leave
o nss S SpeTGS done f. PsntCmime once Then
the bewilderlngly beautiful scenery to intoxi-
cate caI,d ny eyes with. and tho dumb, acting
there isn't often anything In the Wagner opera
that one would call by such violent. name as
couple OF silent people. one OF them standing
stu. tho other catching flies. OF course. 1
o. din not really mean, that no would be catching
lures which consist In reaching first one han,l
out into the air and then the other. might
suggest the sport speak OF II the operator at
sound
,,This present opera was "Parsifal" Nine.
wagner does not permit It's representation
t anywhere tH. tut IN Bayrepth. Tho first act Of
That In spite OF tho singing
81, trust that know as well rs anybody that
siihtgbhg Is enc OF the most enhancing and be-