Page:Brandes - Poland, a Study of the Land, People, and Literature.djvu/91

Rh Laughter indeed is not forbidden, but it forbids itself. It is so rare that a foreigner who late at night in the society of his acquaintances laughs aloud at some conceit, sees the police and gendarmes assemble with signs of astonishment. I never heard any laughter in the streets of Warsaw but my own.

Silence and seriousness are the two traits which above all are characteristic of Poland. It is a land where no one publicly expresses mirth.

Go into the great student café which is situated opposite the University. No one says a word aloud. Go out in the street. There is never a shout. No one likes to attract attention to himself. Or take as example a large public ball, under the patronage of the best society. The orchestra thunders, the mazurka is danced through all its figures for three-quarters of an hour at the stretch. But in a corner of the hall stands in a circle of young officers the strict old General Krüdener, who was defeated at Plevna after having been compelled to make a hopeless attack, much against his will. In another corner stands Colonel Brock, only some thirty years old, who has risen to be chief of the gendarmerie, the political police, who are rather disliked by the other corps of the army, and with whose officers the officers of the army do not like to have anything to do, but whose commander nevertheless is the most important man in the city, more important even than the Governor-General; for a command of his is final; there is no appeal from his orders. The thought of the qualities which he must have displayed in order to have attained such a post at his age, presents itself involuntarily to the mind. His glance flies uninterruptedly about the hall and puts a certain damper on the gaiety. Where it falls, falls silence.

Or take a great rout in a public hall. It is a beautiful sight, but a quiet festival. It is allowed because the object is charitable; an asylum or a foundling hospital receives the profits.

Against the pillars of the hall sit the distinguished ladies who preside over the festival and distribute the prizes of the lotteries. The hall is full of young ladies in the