The Irish standard., 1902-04-05

| "d of man of his influence and prop
| crty-for he was thrifty and prosper.
GUS
| SO his daughters MAthildc, the best
| singer In tho village attractive, n fine
h"llSckrcpcr, and having n fine dowry
| in prospect. was naturally the most
| rolrtcd of all tho Ohcrammcrgau
| mnidonS. Anton Ian" was :: fine Young
| man. Ito was sober ANA industrious
and made good money nt his trade of
| potter: but there were other young men
in the village whose worldly position
was superior to his-and Ravarian
peasants arc thrifty respecting mar
rngc as wcll as in other matters.
Already preparations were in motion
for the hcrcnninl performance of the
passion of our Saviour. which has been
given every ten years since 1854. in
accordance With Il VOW made by the
obrrnmnrr"Hu villa"rrs on their es-
cape from The great plague of the year
before. TIL" approach of these periods
has always dominated the minds and
hearts of these people no them the
| prrf"rlnr" of tlir "inSSion Play" has
always been the most sacred of duties.
Upon tho occasion Of the pcrfor1n-
n'Ir" in 1890. th" village had been in
undated with visitors from all coun-
fries. Ol"rnmmrrrnu WAS on the lips
Of Hll men. This thought added to the
excitement Of preparations for the per-
| fnrmancr OF 1900. The Paris lGxposl-
| tion would hc open and from there
| would com" extra thousands to see and
/! hear ana wonder
Joseph Mayer though old and drcad.p'
ing the physical strain of the crucid 4.
ion scene. had not yet positivclYde-
rIinrd I" continue in that partI Ev-
"ryh"ay knew that Mnthildc Rutz
would br the soloist, in fact she was
already cngrosscd with the music of
the production. Anna Funger a girl
of eighteen was to mako her debut as
Mary, the mother OF Christ
Bertha Wolf, daughter of the inn
keeper thanks to her wonderfully long
golden hair, was to play Mary Mngda.
len for the first time Sebastian Bauer,
one of the poorest wOOdcarvcrs in the
village, had won the part Of POntius
Pilntcbut there seemed to be nothing
better for Anton Lang than place in
The chorus.
Willingly he would take the hum
blcst part: it was n duty. But the
young man, seeing the girl he loved so
absorbed in hcr larger part, and noting
how village companions no more gift
cd than himself were rewarded in the
way most esteemed by citizens Of
Obcrammcrgau, was sad and showed
| it.
This young lover, to whom fate
seemed so uniin1. had most comely
features, softencd by the beard which
razor had never touched. His heavy
hair fell apart naturally in the middle
Of his brow, and was allowed to grow
in German peasant fashion, till it
touched the collar Of his coat. There
was no affcctAtiOn in this Indeed, it
would have been affectation in Anton
Lang Of Obcrammcrgau to have worn
his hair shorter
So he worked away at his pots and
jars, and helped the other men Of the
village put the great stage and audi
forum in order for the performances
beginning the following June. Mean
while he rchcarsel with the chorus
ana gaZcd in silent admiration upon
Mntlide Ruiz when her beautiful
voice swclcd in the "Mystical Song"
One day all the village knew that
Joseph Mayer had promised his wife
that he would not again risk his health
perhaps his life--by appearing as the
Saviour Mrs. Mayer had never trust
cd herself to witness the spectacle of
her husband hanging upon the timbers
of the sacred emblem. She remem-
bcrcd that upon the last occasion he
was unconscious when taken down,
and was i'll for weeks after
! Who, then, should take the place Of