The story of Don Miff : $b as told by his friend John Bouche Whacker: a symphony of lifeDabney, Virginius
History
The story of Don Miff : $b as told by his friend John Bouche Whacker: a symphony of life
Dabney, Virginius
Richmond (Va.) -- Fiction; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Fiction
The beloved of William glanced at Charley and bit her lip. Somehow it
seemed comic to every one that Charley should be in love.
Then Billy, folding his arms across his deep chest, and summoning his
mind to a vast generalization: “The fact is, everybody is a goner,” said
he; “as for me—”
His girl placed her finger upon her rosy lip, and reproved his
chattering with a frown that was very, very fierce; but from beneath her
darkling brows there stole, as she raised her eyes to his manly face, a
glance soft as the breath of violets from under a hedge of thorns.
The allegro moderato came to an end with the usual twang twing twang.
“Unt we came out all togedder!” exclaimed the Herr. “Dot is someding
already. Shentlemen und ladies, I tell you a little story, vot you call.
Berlioz was once leading an orchestra, part professionals, part
amateurs. Ven dey vas near de ent of de stucke vot you call morceau,
‘Halt, shentlemens!’ cry Berlioz, rapping on the bulbit-desk, vot you
call. ‘Now, shentlemens amateurs,’ says he, ‘you just stop on dis bar
unt let de oders blay, so dat we all come out togedder.’”
The excellent Herr, after laughing himself to the verge of asphyxiation,
explained that “Berlioz, you unterstant, vas a great vit, vat you call,
unt make many funny words.” It was a peculiarity of our friend
Waldteufel that his pronunciation of English varied with the amount of
water that he had neglected to drink; and as this was an uncertain
quantity, you could never be quite sure whether he would say vas or was,
words or vords. At certain critical moments, too, when his soul stood
vascillating between contentment and thirst, the two systems were apt to
become mixed as above. I will add that I make no attempt at accuracy in
reproducing his dialect, preferring to leave that, in part at least, as
I have done in a parallel case, to the resources of the reader.
The remaining movements of the quintet were played in somewhat smoother
style; but the only one requiring special mention, for our purposes, was
the larghetto, or slow movement. In this number, the technical
difficulties of which were inconsiderable, Lucy’s tender religious
spirit revealed itself most touchingly. It so happened that the composer
had placed this part mainly in the hands of the piano and the first
violin, the other instruments merely giving an unobtrusive
accompaniment. First the violin gave out the theme, and then the piano
made reply.
“It is the communing of two spirits,” felt Mary, in her imaginative way.
Now the piano gave forth its tender plaint, and the violin seemed to
Mary to listen; at one time silent, at another interrupting,—assenting
rather,—breaking into low-muttered interjections of harmonious
sympathy. And then the violin would utter its lament, finding its echo
in the broken ejaculations that rose from beneath Lucy’s responsive
fingers; so, at least, it seemed to Mary.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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