Townsend Harris High School - Crimson Gold Yearbook (Flushing, NY)

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were a little harder, and lasted longerf' joe was all enthusiasm now, Oh, boy! just wait until my English teacher hears of this. l'll bet this is the greatest discovery in the field of literature since Adam started the vogue of eating apples to keep the doctor away! But how can I make them believe me, Bill? All this would seem so fantastic, so unreal, that no- body would place any faith in our revelation. XYfhy not write it down? sug- gested Shakespeare, and then I'll sign the statement. The skeptics could then compare the signature with those that have already been proven genuine, and so the truth of the mat- ter could be made known. Joe thought it was a great idea, and proceeded to write down the con- versation he had just had. !'How's that?'l he exclaimed, showing the finished work to his friend. That's fine! Shakespeare replied, !'l'll sign it now. just as he grasped the pen and pre- pared to affix his signature to the paper, the raucous sound of a milkman clattering down the street, rent the air. Shakespeare gave a short gasp. His body seemed to be gradually dis- solving into a thin mist. First his arms, then his legs disappeared and floated away. live got to go now, joe, he said. His voice had a strange, hollow, far away sound. His body still seemed to be disintegrating and now only his head and shoulders were left. Goodbye, joe. You know all we dead people must be back in our graves as soon as the cock crows. There aren't any cocks in the city so St. Peter decreed that the milkmen should be substituted. 'The milkman tolls the knell of part- ing nightf So long, joe. Good luck to you .... His voice trailed off into a faint whisper. joe was so entranced by this trans- formation that for a while he could do nothing but stare. Finally, he woke up and shouted, say, wait a minute, Bill, you forgot to sign the paper. Cant you wait just a second? It's so important! Hey, Bill! But Shakes- peare had now entirely disappeared, and Joe was left all alone in the room -alone with the memories of his dis- tinguished visitor. Joe then stumbled into bed, harboring very pleasant thoughts. He had spoken with Shakes- peare-said to be the greatest writer that ever lived. With his help he had made a discovery which was sure to cast a new light on the entire Elizabethan age and might revolution- ize the theatre, even the mode of liv- ing of the whole nation. Yes, it sure- ly was good night's work. joe's name would go down in history as the man who had ushered in a new era of culture and philosophy-who had discovered and righted grievous mis- takes of hundreds of years' standing. Perhaps he would become even more celebrated than Lindbergh! Perhaps. joe awoke from a sound sleep feel- ing very much refreshed. The silly dreams of the previous night had en- tirely vanished now. Yes, that was all it was, an idiotic nightmare. Joe dressed hurriedly-it seemed that he was always late. He surveyed the jumbled mass of books and papers on his desk. Some day he'd get real am- bitious and clean it all up. The first few books on the top of the heap went into his brief case, the next two or three into the bookcase .... Suddenly, a large sheet of yellow paper caught his eye. He was sure he had never seen that piece of paper before. He picked it up and read it hurriedly. Why it was a copy of his conversation with Shakespeare! The whole thing seemed like a far-off dream-a hazy mirage. Yet here was a written copy of everything that had A J1- E. '5' X U- a f J a ri! ! S 4 1. 2 y .lllfi .fig i . 9 W, i 01 f, ,1- ! I i ill! ,bk-J ' i ga l eff Q ll ! IDA l Page Fifty-Seven

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W - , u -I 1 ,adj :I- j a SN I, to U' I or 'S 55. I f 2,7 M af! 5 GI U9 ,r 01 xp 'QW W . lf ! V ., Page Fifty-Six port at some time or other. Now that passage I just quoted was from Hamlet, and you couldn't call that a comedy, could you ? Shakespeare was absolutely astound- ed. Did I hear you call those plays lmgerfier? Or are my ears deceiving me? Why I never wrote a tragedy in my life, and neither did any of my contemporaries! Goodness knows, there are enough tragedies in my real life, without writing plays about them. We wanted to enjoy our- selves when we went to a show. By the way, how do you think the word 'playl came to be applied to perform- ances in the theatre? We jolly Eng- lishmen in Elizabetlfs time wanted to have our fun, just like other people. But you see, bridge and Mah Jong hadn't been invented yet, and it wouldn't look very decorous for us to be seen playing ball in the streets, like the children. And besides, those elaborate ruffs that we wore made it almost impossible for us to engage in any physical exercise. So we got into the habit of going to the theatre for our recreation. I admit, we were a bit unruly at times, but that is how theatres came to be known as 'play- housesf Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice, and Macbeth were great suc- cesses there. Yes, I think these three were my greatest comedies. How in the world did you get the impression that they were tragedies? All this talk was getting under joe's skin, and he flared up, 'How did I get the impfersion? just look at these books and see if you can find anything funny there. Shakespeare took the books and glanced at several pages. Evidently, it was his turn to be surprised now, for as he read, his eyes opened wider and wider, until he was the picture of astonishment. Why, bless my soul, I see it all now. How careless of me. It's really all my fault. You see, joe, when I wrote these plays it was cus- tomary for authors merely to give the actors their lines and provide for their entrances and exits. Nowadays, play- wrights note all stage directions in the script, even describing the characters' emotions and costumes. You know the old proverb, 'It's not what you say but how you say it.' Frequently a seemingly serious thought can be ut- tered in a manner that sends the listener into hysterics. Thatls the way we worked in my theatre. These 'tragedies,' as you call them, were really burlesqued so as to form come- dies. joe was coming around to Shakes- peare's point of view now. Then you mean to say that all these plays which we regard as tragedies were nothing more than exaggerated melo- dramas, which were presented in such a way as to appear laughable? Precisely The actors were dressed up in ridiculous costumes, and spoke grandiose language, while waving their arms about in impossible ges- tures! Audiences were not as well be- haved as they are now, either. One of their chief delights was to throw things at the actors. A bit vulgar of course, but it was good practice for the baseball season, and nobody cared much for actors, anyway. They were about the lowest form of society. Ha, Ha, Ha! You remember the part where Hamlet pronounces his 'To be or not to be' soliloquy? Well, judging from the quality and quantity of the artcles that were thrown at poor Hamlet, the crowd always seemed to favor suicide! An actor never lasted more than a week in that role! Lady Macbeth had a tough time of it, too. In her sleep-walking scene, she had to have her eyes closed, of course, and so had a hard time dodging the mis- siles. Thatls why we had to use men or boys in all the female roles. They

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,ex 4 l . Q 9 ggi 1 ,, 5 ' 93555 itil , U X m 'Q Ji S! . 3 . 4 Xi I ol. A M' Page Fifty-Eight taken place-in his own handwriting, too! People had been known to walk and talk in their sleep, but nobody had ever heard of a person writing a description of a dream while he was still asleep. No, such things never happened. It couldn't have been a dream. All the details of that event- ful evening came rushing back to him now-Shakespeare's appearance, the conversation, and then his mysterious departure. It sounded just a bit fool- ish in broad daylight, but here was positive proof of his belief that he had met and talked with Shakespeare! True, the document had not been signed by the immortal playwright, but it had been witnessed and ap- proved by him. The more joe thought about it, the firmer became his belief in the reality of the adventure. joe went to school that day wth a burning desire to make known his tremendous- ly important discovery about Shakes- peare-to benefit mankind-to show the world the errors it had made and, in general, to be an extremely desir- able member of society, one who had earned the respect and admiration of all his fellow human beings. joe took a quick glance at the clock and rushed out. He had barely enough time to get to school and was even on the verge of taking a taxi- so great was his need for haste. When he reached school, his excitement could hardly be controlled. Never- theless, he had to wait until the fifth hour, when he had English, to make his startling revelation. After what seemed like ages, two o'clock came around. He smiled inwardly as he walked into the room. Little did the students and the teacher know what a great surprise he had in store for them! As was expected, the instructor im- mediately began the work of testing his pupils' knowledge of Shakespeare. As was also expected, the students in- terpreted certain specified passages, repeating verbatim the explanations the instructor had given earlier in the term. Everything was fine. The in- structor was pleased because his stud- ents had so accurately mastered his teachings. The students were pleased because the instructor was pleased and was giving out tens quite freely. The period was nearly half gone, and as yet joe had not had opportunity to air his great discovery. He was fairly bursting with suppressed knowledge and wisdom. Twenty-five minutes to -twenty minutes to. It seemed as if he would never be recognized. Finally, he could stand it no longer. He must be heard! He jumped to his feet and shouted, NSTOP! You are all wrong. None of you know what you are talk- ing about! Only I know the truth, for Shakespeare told me himself last night. While the class sat and gaped at him with open-mouthed astonish- ment, he proceeded to unfold the amazing tale of his conversation with Shakespeare. Needless to say, they were in an uproar by the time he finished. A, veritable bedlam had broken out, only this time there was but one idiot-or so the class thought. At first joe's classmates had been taken aback at his dramatic interruption and his un- believable story, then their cries of astonishment were superseded by yells of derision. Each student was trying to outdo his neighbor in suggesting a suitable treatment for him. joe was terribly chagrined and dis- sappointed. He had not been hailed as a hero, as he had imagined. His coup de grace, the paper that Shakes- peare had been about to sign when he was called back to his eternal resting place by the milkman, had fallen upon deaf ears, for the class was now in open revolt. P In vain, joe tried to explain-point- ing to his paper with tears in his