University of Nanking - Linguist Yearbook (Nanking, China)

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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

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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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100 THE LINGUISTH initial consonants, the proverb f'Tl1ere is no task under Heaven whicha zealous man fears was made to say There1s no task under Heaven which a newt servant-fears. Our own unanimous opinion was and is that there is no task under Heaven which our Christmas and New Year and then a new class. It wasin honor of the'-Ianuary class that the stupendous theatrical production 1ljacobi or The Poisoned Peanut was first staged-.in Nankmg. The audience, while appreciative, was strangely indifterent tothe pathos of the play- -a tragedy in three acts-- -and it was received with peals of laughter. The cast was as follows. jacobi, a self-made boot-black trillionaire ..... ...... E arl Otto Lucy Ann, a simple country maiden ...... ...... E rua Flatter Sophronia, a sophisticated city girl ..... - .. .Emelme Bowne teachers could not accomplish. T g g 6 The acting left nothing to be desired either in actual portrayal or in the atmosphere which it created. From the moment when the hero expressed his wish to share 'Whfith one dear girl, my own my early love, My Lucy Ann, sweet gentle little dove' we knew that complications were bound to arise, so that when Sophronia appeared, we were not surprized to find her luring away jacobi's atTections. But true worth ever conquers, even though it perish in the attempt. Lucy Ann in spite of her temporary anger and command to Take back thc box thou hast given lfVhat is thy polish to me F p had agreed to receive Jacobi once more into her good graces when alas! alas !' enter the villainess, and in the end a sad, sad triple suicide and murder. It was with difficulty that we could resume sufficient composure to play games under the direction of Dorothy Bascom and Mr. Keen-which may account forthe fact that nine- tenths of the group were relegated to the floor during the playing of The Chinese do not like 'l ' and that a few of the men were notice- ably preoccupied and had to be inspired by their partners in the race to exchange chairs. p