Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-09-09
THIS AND THAT
By CHARLES Z. TRAcEWELL.

serio-comic interests of the personal
drama of life. Again we stignatiSe
the untamed aesthetic tho, regardless
of the mundane tragedy, runs riot in
the springtide Of emancipated emo
tons as one with too much tea in
him."
Our author continues: "The outsider
may indeed wonder at this seeming
much ado about nothing. What q
tempest in teacupl he will say. But
when we consider how small, after all
the cup Of human enjoyment Is, how
soon overfiowed with tears, how easily
drained to the dregs in our Quenchless
thirst Tor infinity. we shall not blame
ourselves Tor making 80 much of the
teacup. Mankind has done worse"
Tnis Is charming prose. Those who
read much will have occasion to won
der often at the ability Of most men
to write well when the subject Is one
to their heart and mind. Consider this
conclusion to the nrst Of the sever,
chapters:
The heaven Of modern humanity is
indeed shattered in Cyclopean struR-
gle Tor wealth and power. The world
Is cropping in the shadow OF egotisnl
ana vulgarity. knowledge is bought
through bad conscience, benevolence
practiced for the sake of utility. The
East and the West, like two dragons
tossed In sea of ferment, in vair
strive 10 regain the jewel of life. We
need Niuka to repair the grand dew
astation; We await the great Avatar.
Meanwhile let us have O sip OF tea
The afternoon glow is Frightening the
bambooS, the fountains are bubblinp
with delight, the soughing of the pines
is heard in our kettle. Let us dream
of evaneScence and linger in the beau
tiful fooliShness of things"
Something about this reminds one OF
the best of Leigh Hunt, Christopher
Morley, Charles Lamb, Rabindranati,
Tagore.
''The whole ideal of Tealsm," our
author tells us. lis result of this Ter
conception OF the greatness in the
smallest incidents of life Taoism fur
nished the basis +, aesthetic ideals
zennism made them practical"
The description of the tea room, with
Its utter simplicity, its unsymmetrica.
quality, its peace, its infinite ceremony
and courtesy, VIII be appreciated by al
Americans who vaguely feel that there
is something wrong with the Western
way of living, despite our electric re.
frigerators, our blaring radios, and al
our other signs of progress
LAC OdPdAACoC 1CSdI0 J1lclE cGIGnOnl4
tea room as the Abode of Fancy, the
Abode of Vacancy, and the Abode OF
the UnSymmetrical. ut is an Abode
of Fancy, inasmuch as it Is an ephem-
eral structure built to house q poetic
impulse" Mr.. Kakuzo explains. ut is
an Abode of Vacancy, inasmuch as II
Is devoid of ornamentation, except fol
what may be placed in it to satisfy
some aesthetic need of the moment. II
Is an Abode of the Unsymmetrical, In
asmuch as it Is concentrated to the
worship of the I'm erfect, purposely
leaving some thing unfinished for the
play of the imagination to complete"
SO an American pantry, with its
complete, perfect electric refrigerator
Is scarcely q tea room. Our livins
rooms, with their walls filled with un-
related pictures, are not tea rooms. Our
shining motor cars, with not q bolt left
to the imagination, are not tea rooms.
And some of us, some hundreds o.
thousands of us, maybe millions Of us
1t is difficult to say .actly how many
feel that the Japanese, with their cour.
teous ceremony Of the tea, in which tht
guests bow low before one mornins
glory blossom in a bowl before .payinf
their respects to the host, possess some
thing which we as q race definitely lack
ana need very, very much.