The farmer and mechanic., 1915-04-20

I
nave dreamed of for years and I |
refuse to look up; for if / do 7 sh.,, |
see not the Parthenon, but the raw
ragged wounds, made by the Nene |
lian smells three hundred years ago
30 walk on with head down. Oh.
mere l am, at the theater of Diony-
sius. There are the tiers of stone
seats on the hill side and the cave
above, all of which is we'll known to
me, SO ! enter the iron gate way and
lovingly greet my old acQuaintances
OF the class room-the semi-circular
orchestra. the ruined stage the row
Oh marble chairs there in front for
me Armenian dlgnitaries, the tiers on
uerS OF stone seats for the common
ers. But somehow it fails to move
me at all and / am a bit ashamed
| or myself. The place is rhronged
with Sunday visitors some twenty
hve or thirty black haired, black ey-
ed, Athenian girls, just at the gig
CLING age Of thirteen or fourteen. are
| gong over the ruin, under the guild
ance of their teacher, a gray haired
gentleman OF some fifty years. The
worthy domino leads his lively skim
ping mock down from the auditorium
| makes them set down in the row OF
stone chairs while he mounts to the
stage with cane i'll hand, proceeds to
give his young listeners a lecture on
|
theater; he waves his wand; he
grows eloquent; he, appeals to the
shades of Aeschylus, of Sophocles, Of
Euripides. Only Arstophanes, the
master humOrist,, is left out, Pity;
Tor all the while the little huzzies
are giggling, prOdding one another
In the ribs and peeping out Of the
corner OF the eye at the odd looking
stranger, who is seated over there
west of the stage, listening with q
twinkle in his eyes But the domi-
ne closes in q fierce burst Of elo-
) quence and comes strutting down in.
to the orchestra. He leads his flocl
past me and the place is my own.
too mount the stage now, but Onl.
? to gaze about me. Somehow photo
r graphs have way of idealizing tbotl
{ scenes and persons. But how litt]
the photographs have prepared M
for the ruin and desolation here. TIL
burning midday sun beats down pit
Y eOusly on broken marble and diStort
4 ed masonry, and / hasten to com
= down from the stage and cross tn
!! orchestra with a tightening at tn
I heart. l will come back when tn
t crowd is gone. And at twilight!
b The Giant A,nphi4hcatrc.
!. so. up l climb through the lon
h central aisle between the row of ston
:, seats. From the stage the new audi
q had expected but as | go up toward
IS the cave ut the rear,-hewn out {
e the living stone of the Acropolis,-
II am hardly prepared for the Sti
k climb. ! pause to look back at III
e stage, three hundred feet away. Thos
1T men passing before the stage loo
= like small boys. And SO the Gree
: actors had to be made Of heroic pre-
st portions-seven feet highly tt
s. Corthurmus, III order to appear
e natural proportions to the vast al
in dience on this hillside. But what
IT the voice? How could it be so aus
ia mented AS to. be heard at this dis
n lance? And just here the two ms
te below climb on the stage and beg
leI talking. How distinctly their VOic
"a come to me, although l can Of cour
t. understand not IL word they are sa
Ill ing. The acoustics are we'll nigh pc
Y, | feet, but here / am at the extren
ir rear of the theatre with the cave rig
s. above me- Not only did the stOl
st benches extend to this point, but ru'
a seats were fashioned out Of this rO'
ng of the AcropoliS beside the cave. II
ng latter, once sacred to Dionysus, is nc
ID dedicated to our "Our Lady; the
d 4. is a sorry sort of shrine within;
eel wooden gateway closes the front, Wi
nd q white cross above; there is WO1
w an keeper, with several dirty CHI
m l>dren playing about on the worn roc
Ill and | hasten to come down to
let footway which leads along the ba
lrf lof the 1tcropolis. Wary walking
in takes here; for these stones are Wo
ire smooth and a mlsstep Wou
ne mean hard fall. Ihe ruined thea'
Eof Herodes Atticus is below he /
Il gave it only a passing glance. 1t
w Roman work and these walls Of d
7ilfl burnt brick seem sadly out OF pla
ere here and world of cleaning Pc
)h, telic marble. They might have be
US! built by an American contractor
-nd1 Restoring Ola Architecture.
ell "Rere / am at last, sa1e ana sou1
ifi- lat the Beule Gate, the entrance
{ a the Acropolis. and shade of Pericl
XIV here is a tiny railroad, instead Of
ter. great marble stairs ascending to
Ter. PrOpylaea! Well, I all but sit do
L.. | and have q GOOD C1.N ONer the hOrrl