South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-11-30
Oriental Dignity's Sur
render To Humor
By N. P. Babcock

with the flag OF Japan mingling
among the banners of our allies on
Fifth av. during the recent Liberty
Loan campaign, one unacquainted
with the development OF the East,
might have thought - question: bic
taste for q revival OF Gilbert and
Sullivan's masterpiece OF travesty.
The Mlkado." TO have been staged
In a New York theater. immediate
- after the close OF that campaign.
4 proposed revival OF this opera in
London just before the war. was
called off as likely 10 give offense
TO Engiand's Eastern Ally. Il was
argued that 20 burlesque and make
sport OF their exalted ruler, would
furnish good ground for the resent
.,ent OF loyal Japanese Neither
Sir william Gilbert nor sir Arthur
sullivan was alive at the time 20
say how they viewed the matter. 1
am inclined 10 think the former
might have said. with a LIT OF his
bushy eyebrows. Why must an
Englishmsn suppose every other
man 10 be a bigger ass than him
self7"
Instead Of being compliment 10
the japanese. the banning OF the
opera Was really an insult 20 their
Intelligence. II presupposed the ex-
istence OF a cuticle OF absurd pride.
so thick that genuine wit and humor
couldn't penetrate II How false this
supposition was, is shown by the
New York revival above alluded 20.
At each performance OF the opera.
Japanese residents and visitors in
the city, were present in larse num-
bers. and their laughter and ap-
plause quite equalled that OF tho
OccidentaIs.
Why should Il have been other
wise. It was burlesque pure and
simple, nothing contained the slight
est reference 20 traditions they may
have held sacred: no reflection was
10 be found upon their form OF
government. past or present; no
jibes at any OF the fundamentals OF
their belief You may study the
history OF japanese civilization. and
fate to discover any sovereign po-
tentate. from the Emperor Jimmu
TennO. founder OF the Empire, down
to the present dynasty, who could
by the greatest stretch Of magma
ton be taken as the prototype of
that MikadO 10 whom we are pre-
scented in the Town or Titipu.
AS for Pooh Bah-that multipi-
fer OF ce-hclding-he IS perhaps
more representative OF our own pO-
Ntical system. than OF any other,
and at all events. he cannot be
claimed exclusively as the ancestor
of any Japanese OF whatever eK-
halted rank or constituencies, be-
cause as he himself declares, he
traces his ancestry back TO a pro
toplasmal primordial atomic glO-
bule." which certainly is going
sOme'-backwards.
Therefore had our japanese thea -
tcr-goers failed TO enjoy The Mi
kado," il would have tended 20
prove that their ears were longer
than Gilbert might have assume
them to be. and which OF them
would have cared to maintain his
traditional dignity against the in
vasion OF smile at such a cost as
that?
A brief glance at the manner in
which this, perhaps. most popular
OF all the Gilbert and Sullivan works,
originated and was developed, may
not be without interest.
In the winter Of 1sS4-5. Gilbert
was casting about for a successor
TO his not over-successful Princess
Ida" Let me quote here from a
work by Francis Cellier;-"One day
an old japanese sword which. for
years had been hanging on the wall
of his study, fell from its place.
This incident directed his attention
TO japan. Just at that time a COM
pany of japanese had arrived in
England and set up a little village
OF their own in Knightsbridge. For
material for an opera. Sir William
had not to journey TO Yokohama
or Toxic. He found all he wanted
in Knightsbridge within a mile OF
his home in South Kensington."
Although obviously II was from his
own brain and Imagination that n