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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.— SUPPLEMENT. 



would fain know, is any worship, any rite man 

 can offer to the Unknown Majesty, the Unknown 

 Love, but idolatry, whatever the symbol, whatever 

 the expression ? Image, picture, statue, book, 

 wood, stone, word, written scroll, printed paper, 

 idea, thought itself, what are they all ia the great 

 God-poised balance but symbols", but idols ? Be 

 content, then, my friend, with your own favorite 

 idol, the image of your choice ; bow before it, set 

 it up never so high on the throne of your own 

 making, it is well ; but sneer not at, seek not to 

 pull down the idols of your brethren ; perhaps 

 they are no farther from tbe Infinite Truth they 

 purport to symbolize than your own, like them 

 fiuite too. Respect, though you participate not ; 

 give honor, though you refuse worship. 



The procession winds on ; and all the while a 

 desultory firing off of rockets and bursting of 

 crackers detain not a few of the faithful at its 

 starting-point, the village centre, the green before 

 the church, till, after an hour and more of slow 

 circuit, the crowd, tapers, images, band and all, 

 have reentered the temple; and a solemn bene- 

 diction, bestowed with all the efficacy that bells, 

 books, candles, music, vestments, and unques- 

 tioning belief, can give, dismisses the worshipers 

 to festivity and amusement; which, for the 

 wealthier householders, means several hours of 

 supper and dancing, song and cigars, in their 

 own dwellings, or those of their friends. Copious 

 the supper, lavish the hospitality. What the 

 night's entertainment will cost our worthy capi- 

 tan, whose brilliantly-illuminated sola is crowded 

 with at least sixty hungry Malay guests, and 

 thrice the number of uninvited spectators, come 

 to admire the chandeliers, the decorations, the 

 musicians, and the dancers, often to join com- 

 pany with the last, and to partake in the unlim- 

 ited refreshments set forth on the sideboards, I 

 shudder to think. Perhaps so does he ; but, at 

 any rate, no outward sign of disquiet mars his 

 composure, as with an unvarying smile of grati- 

 fied hospitality he goes through the endless cour- 

 tesies of a reception-night. 



But the chief attraction of this period of the 

 evening, and one to which even supper and 

 dancing, roast-pig and polka, must yield in Ma- 

 lay estimation, is to be found out-of-doors, on 

 the village-square, not far from the church and 

 the capitan's own house. It is a spacious booth, 

 the framework of bamboo, gayly draped and 

 festooned with cloth white and red, and sur- 

 mounted by flags ; within is a raised stage, side- 

 scenes, and curtains, the whole brilliantly lighted 

 up, and open in front to the admiring crowd that 



will stand here and gaze for aours ; on either 

 side, reaching to some distance, rows of impro- 

 vised boxes and seats, tier above tier, theatre- 

 fashion, and hung with bright colors, give the 

 more " fashionable " spectators view on the cen- 

 tral stage. Bui boxes, seats, standing-room, all 

 are gratis to-night, when the village itself de- 

 frays the expenses of the common amusement. 

 The drama is a Malay one, and the characters 

 numerous — kings, queens, chieftains, damsels, 

 grave counselors, nobles, soldiers, and so forth, 

 all in the gayest dresses of Malayan type. The 

 plot is generally an adaptation of some Biblical 

 story, that of David and Jonathan being the most 

 often selected, sometimes it is taken from the 

 hagiology ; occasionally from semi-historical rec- 

 ords of wars and reigns. The dialogue is com- 

 monly in verse ; the acting more energetic than 

 Hamlet might have approved ; the music, abun- 

 dantly bestowed as accompaniment, tolerable. 

 But, whatever the theme, two characters, pecul- 

 iar in their mede of adaptation to the Malay dra- 

 ma, are never wanting. One is a quaintly-attired 

 buffoon, who, the .vhole play throughout, and in 

 the midst of the most serious or pathetic scenes, 

 suddenly cuts in from time to time, now address- 

 ing the actors and actresses — the latter are most 

 often, as on the old English stage, lads in female 

 dress — with ?ome absurd counterfeit ot their own 

 speeches and gestures, now mimicking them in a 

 sort of stage-aside for the benefit of the audience ; 

 and thus, in a rude fashion, supplying that side- 

 current of the ccmedy of human life, keeping pace 

 with its tragedy, which the skill of Shrkespeare 

 never fails to present personified in the Stephanos 

 and Pompeys, the nurses and clowns, of his no- 

 blest dramas. I should add that the Malay buf- 

 foon is very rarely coarse, never indecent, in his 

 license. The other character is the prompter, 

 not studiously unseen and unheard by the au- 

 dience, as with us, but patent to all on the mid- 

 stage, and reciting in a loud voice every sentence 

 of the play, to be repeated after him with appro- 

 priate action by the characters themselves. The 

 length of the performance, never under three 

 hours, sometimes extends over as many succes- 

 sive nights, nor seems to tire the spectators. 

 Meanwhile, road-side sheds, offering to Malay 

 palates a tempting display of sweetmeats and re- 

 freshments, booths for billiard-players, and other 

 minor amusements or attractions, abound on all 

 sides ; drunkenness and disorder are conspicuous 

 by their absence only. 



Thus, pass the hours till the approach of mid- 

 night is announced by a sudden glare of light 



