Page:The Works of J. W. von Goethe, Volume 12.djvu/200

186 laconic gravity, so that all he utters sounds like an adage or maxim; and in this way a happy contrast is afforded to the wild and passionate exclamations of the other personages.

But, even as it was, I never witnessed anything like the noisy delight the people evinced at seeing themselves and their mates represented with such truth of nature. It was one continued laugh, and tumultuous shout of exultation, from beginning to end. I must, however, confess that the piece was extremely well acted by the players. According to the cast of their several parts, they had adopted among them the different tones of voice which usually prevail among the inhabitants of the place. The first actress was the universal favourite, more so even than she had recently been in an heroic dress and a scene of passion. The female players generally, but especially this one, imitated in the most pleasing manner possible the twang, the manners, and other peculiarities, of the people they represented. Great praise is due to the author, who out of nothing has here created the most amusing divertissement. However, he never could have done it with any other people than his own merry and light-hearted countrymen. The farce is written throughout with a practised hand.

Of Sacchi's company, for which Gozzi wrote (but which by the by is now broken up), I saw Smeraldina, a short, plump figure, full of life, tact, and good humour. With her I saw Brighella, a slight, well-made man and an excellent actor, especially in pantomime. These masks, which we scarcely know, except in the form of mummings, and which to our minds possess neither life nor meaning, succeed here only too well as the creation of the national taste. Here the most distinguished characters, persons of every age and condition, think nothing of dressing themselves out in the strangest costumes; and as, for the greater