University of Nanking - Linguist Yearbook (Nanking, China)

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98 THE .l.INGUIS'l ' The bed ticked and they also say the sea sighed, The cellar stared to see the chocolate drop, A waterman's fountain pig pen'a?Q'afeatnre ' Xvould be extremely novel, would it not? And that is all, won't some courageous creature Step quickly up and flag my train of thought? CHORUS. In my little cottage pudding by the sea, ' My Gwendoline is waiting there for me, And she surely is a prize with her sweet-hazel eyes, In my little cottage pudding by the sea. Unfortunately one of our members was unable to resist the lnlling combination of so many dulcet strains and the delicious refreshments which had been served to us. 1-le went to sleep in the corner and dreamed through It may be that only in Heaven I shall learn to speak Chinese and even the selections by the Meigs I-fall quartet, but apparently his nap was unsatisfactory, for later he joined with great enthusiasm in Oh Iwent to sleep, but it wasn't any use-sing Polly Wolly Doodle all the day. As we followed his obvious suggestion and said goodnight, if there was one thought up- permost in our'minds even stronger 'than appreciation of the hospitality we had enjoyed, itwas the wish that our friends at home might have been there. To anyone who still thinks of China as only one degree removed from the jungle, a place where ordinary human intercourse is impossible and social development ceases,the normality of that party would have come as a revelation. ' I Halloween! What visions of hobgoblins, ghosts, and witches the word conjures up! What memories of childhood pranks and tricks! And in a land where superstition and belief in an outworn system of magic are rife, what freeedom in the consciousness that after all, our revival of equally outworn practices is only play. How we did play too! There were some familiar features of our home Halloween parties that were missing to be sure-the futile drippings that one gets in bobbing for apples, the trip backwards down cellar, the refreshments of doughnuts and cider-but there were new elements that more than compensated for the loss of these old favorites. Who would hazard a fall downstairs when by purchasing a piece of paper from the hag who brewed fortunes in her kettle, he might know his fate, or who would have'exchanged his balls of puffed rice for the best American doughnut? The costumes in the procession that passed through the hair-raising experiences of the Chamber of Horrors that evening were original and varied to say the least. Mr. Iiolleite, our distinguished and tactful president, gave'

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SOCIAL LIFE 97 SOCIAL LIFE V The solemn, long-faced, sanctimonious missionary is out of date. -ln fact, if he ever existed, and there is abundant evidence to show that he did not, he has long since joined the company of the dodo, the dinosaur, and other extinct species. Given, a group of Language School students, any time. any place, under any circumstances, and you have proof more than ample to convince the most skeptical. F rom the tirst morning when we haltingly introducedxourselves, until the present moment, our work has in itself been characterized by such a fSpirit of comradeship and social-mindedness between student and stu- -dent and between students and faculty that arbitrarily to select a group -of activities and classify them as .Usocial life is to leave a false umpression. W'e cannot. however, include everything, and if we Sketch only the high lights, it is with the hope that you may be able Ito fill in something of the background of larger fellowship which we -enjoy in the Nanking Language School. ' '-Those absenting themselves from this party do so at their own risk was the gruesome warning attached to thenotice of our first get Together and get acquainted party given by the advanced students -early in October at the home of Mr. and Mrs. James McCallum, and anyone who had the bad judgment to think of staying away certainly Pan a risk-the risk of missing a good time. Shall we ever forget it-the riclcsha ride over when ricksha rides had not yet lost their novelty, the usual blood-curdlmg quarrel with the coolies. and then the lantern-lighted yard and the jollity of Three Deep. It was not -an outdoor party for long, however. Before everyone had stumbled more than twice, we were lI'ldOOI'S and engaged in hunting through dusty corners of our brains for stunts,,' those born in January pre- fsenting one stunt, those born in February another, and so on. u QQ Oman jesse ran was present of course. Du sh wygwha ran has probablybeen translated in ways that are various, but we doubt whether it ever created the sensation that it did when rendered by Louie Bysted as f-And Ikie said to his little boy, 'This is one grand Ship. ' It was on this occasion too, that we were first introduced to that immortal classic In My Little Cottage .Pudding by the Sea. As sweetly and harmoniously sung by Earl Otto and judy Allen, it had -Hn appeal to the emotions which mere printed words can never have, .but we quote a stanza for what it is worth.

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SOCIAL LIFE 99 us a shocking exhibition of reversal to type, when he appeared rouged. coiffed, and powdered to the nth degree as a Broadway-or Main Street-flapper. It is no exaggeration to say that he took the prize-a Chinese lantern. Aunt DinahQDr. Brown,jwho as a colored mammy was jest so sca'ht o'dem dare, ghost'es dat she plum knew she was goin' t' have de hydrostatics carried off the other lantern. One could scarcely have called Mr. Keen the lion of the occasion. but he undoubtedly was the elephant. Conjecture as to the identity of the peanut hunting animal had been widespread for some time before unmasking, and it was a great surprize to the combined collection of darkies, ghosts, Indians and clowns to find that our dignified Dean had consented to play this role. fThe morale of the student body has been noticeably lower ever since, but after all this is beside the point and a Language School secret.j We ended the evening with games on the lawn, and so our first Chinese Halloween passed into the realm of delightful memories. The air is full of mystery, And secrets are awing was as true of Nanking Language School just before Christmas as it ever is of any school anywhere. Knowing that it has become custom- ary for the teachers to present a play as a part of the Christmas activities, it seemed strange that all of them should feign ignorance. Not a word did they breathe about their preparations for the play. Meanwhile stockings were made and filled with a variety of Chinese goodies to be distributed to the children of the teachers on the day to which we were all looking forward. Loving the teachers as we do, we had long been anxious to meet their wives and families, so that it was with great pleasure that we greeted our guests. How the thought of those Chinese children lingers in our minds- -black hair smooth and shining, dark eager eyes half afraid, half curious, and each child seeming to rival the others in the brightness of his clotn- ing and the number of padded garments he could wear without falling over. But there is neither East nor west When it comes to children at a Christmas party. Although they could understand and enjoy the tableau which depicted Christmas Eve in a Christian home and were pleased by the charming songs and finger plays of Mr. Chia's two little girls, it was evident that to them the climax of the afternoon lay in the tree and the stockings not to mention that presid- ing spirit, Father Christmas. To us. however, the play's the thing. How,the,teachers for three-quarters of an hour maintained aplav containing notonly quick and witty repartee but having a sound plot as well, and all within the limits of our vocabulary, will forever remain a mystery. But they did it, in their own inimitable manner and with the sense of humor that characterizes all Chinese from the highest to the lowest. Much of the delightfulness of the presentation lay in the subtle play on words and the. interchange ,of words having the same pronunciation both in English and Chinese. Any interpretation must necessarily be lame, but it is a temptation to quote one example. For instance, with the exchange of only two