The Continental Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 1, January 1862: Devoted to Literature and National PolicyVarious
History
The Continental Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 1, January 1862: Devoted to Literature and National Policy
Various
Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; United States -- Politics and government -- 19th century -- Periodicals
What we intended to do, O reader, was to give the biography of
BENEDICT ULLMANN. Lo! here it cometh:--
Vita Sancti Benedicti.
ULLMANN is about three thousand years old.
The New York _Herald_ once called him Mephistopheles. He is not
Mephistopheles, however, but the same thing, which is
ULLMANN. He is a spirit bearing human form. Don't forget.
King SOLOMON sat beneath the golden pavilion one
afternoon, playing silver melodies on a gold harp. Up went the
notes--the spirits of the Sephiroth bore them--even up to a
premium, and the very angels stopped sewing on their white robes to
hear the ravishing melody.
By his side sat the Queen of Sheba, counting out her money.
Suddenly, there was a strange vibration, a marvelous tone. The
queen paused. The king smiled. The angels went on with their
sewing. (According to Rabbi ABARBANEL, they were knitting.
This created a schism between the schools of Cracow and Cordova,
which lasted four centuries.)
'Why smilest thou, Oh SOLOMON?'
'I smiled, my dear queen, because you and I became, just now,
unwittingly, the parents of a strange being.'
'Why, SOLOMON--how you talk!' exclaimed the Q. of S.
'Yea, for the ring of thy gold, oh my Queen, and the last
chord-tone from my harp mingled in mystical unity and made a sound
unheard before on earth. And the spirit of that sound, which is of
money and of music, is the spirit whereof I spoke.'
Then the queen marveled greatly at the wisdom of SOLOMON,
and gave him a shekel. The king rung it on the table and touched
his harp. Again the strange tone thrilled out loud.
'There he goes!' quoth SOLOMON. 'My blessing on him. And
therefore the sprite is called Blessed to this day, which in Latin
is _Benedict_.
Thus was ULLMANN born, who was the first who ever sold music;
and, whereas before his time music was only iron or silvern, after he
took it up it became golden--very fine, and ra-ther ex-pen-sive.
Howbeit, he loved music as well as money, and gave the people their
money's worth, and many a jolly opera and fine tenor did he bring out:
yea, had it been possible he would have engaged DON JUAN
TENORIO himself, so that Don Giovanni might have been produced as
perfectly as possible--the Don Giovanity of vanities.
Apropos of music, there is among the novelties of the season a French
'operetta,' entitled '_Les Noces de Jeannette_,' in which a very
peculiar bridegroom distinguishes himself, like Christopher Strap in
'Pleasant Neighbors,' by smashing the furniture. This recalls something
which we heard narrated in the opera _foyer_ the other evening.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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