All the other martial hymns to which we listened were grave,
ponderous compositions from which the element of humor was rigidly
excluded. It was left for the author of 'Yang Kee' to uncover the
ludicrous character of militarism--he has virtually committed your
nation to it. He was a genius of marvelous insight. He saw clearly then
what but few of your fellow citizens are even now aware of, that there
is nothing more comical than a soldier. I am convinced that he was a
Porsslanese who had the good fortune to sow in your literature the seed
of truth. You think that as a nation you have a sense of humor. I have
studied your humorous literature. You laugh at mothers-in-law and
messenger-boys and domestic servants, and many other objects which are
altogether serious and have no element of humor in them, and at the
same time you are blind to the most absurd of spectacles, the man who
dresses up in feathers and gold lace and thinks it is honorable to do
nothing for years but wait for a pretext to kill somebody," and Chung
Tu leaned back in his chair and smiled.
"It is we who have the sense of humor," he added. "When our common
people laughed at the Emperor in his uniforms, they showed the same
sound sense that appears in 'Yang Kee.' I thank you, my dear friends,
for listening to me so kindly and without anger, but I hope to preach
these ideas to your people, and as I take my text from your national
hymn, they must listen to me.
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