Sooth to say, I find about this old quarter of the city a certain
atmosphere spiced with wickedness, not thoroughly bad, just enough to
keep you amused. Look round for yourself o' nights, and you will
probably find reason to agree with me. There is again, in this spicy
atmosphere, a local--or shall we say native?--foundation with a markedly
exotic top-dressing. For the foundation of this peculiar atmosphere I
make Good King Wenceslaus responsible. I have already suggested that he
was "hot stuff," and certainly, when he moved into the palace that stood
near the "Powder Tower," he made things merry and bright in the Old
Town. A night out with Wenceslaus was a liberal education. Fundamentally
his form of amusement was probably the same as you may enjoy to-day if
you are inclined that way. An exotic touch is given to nocturnal
diversions nowadays by American bars and "Palais de Danse" varying in
degree of respectability; here the English language seems to
predominate, in our version and that of our distant relatives across the
Atlantic. The natives of the city do not frequent these haunts in any
great numbers; they have their own amusements, but they look in
occasionally, possibly as a mark of respect to the great allied nations,
and their representatives, the bearers of western culture. The Bohemian
when thinking of America recognizes only the United States of that
continent. Many of them emigrate to that country; some return with their
own rendering of the English language and a professed admiration for the
country of their sometime sojourn, of its institutions and leading
citizens. The Pragers have expressed this admiration by naming their
finest railway station after President Wilson of the Lost Points,
whereas their own President has to be content with a rather grubby old
terminus.
It would be quite possible for me to enlarge upon the subject of night
life in Prague, but discretion advises me not to do so; this is a side
of Prague which you must find out for yourself. When after a good dinner
you proceed to draw those furtive covers in the region between the Town
Hall and the "Powder Tower," you may pick up the scent which, I
maintain, hangs about there--that of rather spicy wickedness. I do not
mean anything offensive in this; in fact, everything is conducted
decently and in good order, also with a certain geniality; the
suggestion is rather that you might be mildly wicked if you wanted to
be. However, though we have to live in this world we need not be of it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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