A Parody Outline of History: Wherein May Be Found a Curiously Irreverent Treatment of American Historical Events, Imagining Them as They Would Be Narrated by America's Most Characteristic Contemporary Authors — John Shaqi
A Parody Outline of History: Wherein May Be Found a Curiously Irreverent Treatment of American Historical Events, Imagining Them as They Would Be Narrated by America's Most Characteristic Contemporary AuthorsStewart, Donald Ogden
History
A Parody Outline of History: Wherein May Be Found a Curiously Irreverent Treatment of American Historical Events, Imagining Them as They Would Be Narrated by America's Most Characteristic Contemporary Authors
Stewart, Donald Ogden
Parodies; United States -- History -- Humor
"There's your Smart Set medicine show," he said glumly. "He doesn't seem
to care much whether we give him a permit or not." Then, a minute later,
"We'll have to let him stay. Won't do to have the Indians down on us.
But I tell you this, Priscilla, I don't want you to go."
"But Will--"
"Prissie, please! I'm sorry I said what I did last night. I was tired.
But don't you see, well, I can't just exactly explain--but this fog horn
sort of scares me--I don't like it--"
He suddenly rose and put both hands on her shoulders. He looked into her
eyes. He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. He picked up his
hat and was gone. It was five minutes before Priscilla noticed that his
breakfast had been left untouched.
A fog horn, sounding unceasingly.
She listlessly put away the breakfast dishes. She tried to drown out
the sound by singing hymns. She fell on her knees and tried to pray. She
found her prayers keeping time to the rise and fall of the notes of that
horn. She determined to go out in the air--to find her husband--to go to
church, anywhere--as far as possible from the Smart Set medicine show.
So she went out the back door and ran as fast as she could toward the
place from which came the sound of the fog horn.
IV
An open space on the edge of the forest.
In the centre of the clearing a small gaudily-painted tent.
Seated on the ground in a semicircle before the tent, some forty or
fifty Indians.
Standing on a box before the entrance to the tent, a man of twenty-five
or fifty.
In his left hand he holds a fog horn; in his right, a stein of beer.
He puts the horn to his lips and blows heavy blast.
He bellows, "Beauty--Beauty--Beauty!"
He takes a drink of beer.
He repeats this performance nine times.
He takes up some mud and deftly models the features of several
well-known characters--statesmen, writers, critics. In many cases
the resemblance is so slight that Priscilla can hardly recognize the
character.
He picks up a heavy club and proceeds to beat each one of his modeled
figures into a pulp.
The Indians applaud wildly.
He pays no attention to this applause.
He clears his throat and begins to speak. Priscilla is so deafened by
the roar of his voice that she cannot hear what he says. Apparently he
is introducing somebody; somebody named George.
George steps out of the tent, but does not bow to the audience. In
one hand he carries a fencing foil, well constructed, of European
workmanship; in his other hand he holds a number of pretty toy balloons
which he has made himself.
He smiles sarcastically, tosses the balloons into the air, and cleverly
punctures them one by one with his rapier.
At each "pop" the announcer blows a loud blast on the fog horn.
When the last balloon has been punctured George retires without
acknowledging the applause of the Indians.
The next act is announced as Helen of Troy in "Six Minutes of Beauty".
Priscilla learns from the announcer that "this little lady is out of
'Irony' by Theodore Dreiser".
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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