iSgo^] On to Oberammergau 



In 1890 the house was no longer to be found. It 

 had, in fact, been torn down at last to make way 

 for a commercial structure. Several other historic 

 Dutch buildings had shared the same fate. 



In Antwerp I one day asked a passing soldier the Linguistic 

 way in what I thought respectable French. He '^^^''^' 

 snapped back: "Je ne parte pas flamand.'" But my 

 amour propre was soon restored. Entering the great 

 post office, I saw an aristocratic English gentleman 

 accompanied by a very handsome daughter, trying 

 vainly to make himself understood at the poste 

 restante. Sympathizing with him in his dilemma, I 

 intervened as politely as possible and made the 

 required translations on both sides. After all was 

 amicably settled, the gentleman bowed graciously 

 and said: "You speak English most remarkably well, 

 sir." Later, going down the Rotterdam shore of 

 the River Maes, I had occasion to cross over to the 

 other side. Spying a boatman, I sprang my usual 

 swift formula — " Parlez vous fran^ais? Sprechen 

 Sie Deutsch? Do you speak English.?" The boat- 

 man drawled out: "I reckon I can tackle some of 

 *em; I'm from Maine." 



From Belgium we found our way to Cologne, up ne 

 the Rhine to Bingen, across to Munich, and thence ^^''^'J'°'' 

 to Oberammergau to see the Passion Play. Like 

 most other visitors, we were deeply moved by the 

 rare beauty of the spectacle and the admirable art, 

 dignity, and reverence with which the whole drama 

 was performed. Moreover, the German text seemed 

 to me to have real literary merit. I was especially 

 impressed with the wood carver, Joseph Mayr, who 

 took the part of Christus. He is a masterful man 

 of great stature and unusual physical strength, 



n 349 :\ 



