"My britheren," said an Irish preacher on one occasion, "there are some German philosophers who say there is no Resurrection, and, me britheren, it would be better for them German philosophers if, like Judas Iscariot, they had never been born."

An Irishman was one day hurrying along a country road in the south of Ireland, when he was met by a friend who exclaimed, "Why, Patrick, what's all your hurry today?"

"Och, be jabers," replied Pat, without stopping, "I've got a long way to go, and I want to git there before I'm tired out."

"There's a man in the dinin' room, sor, makin' trouble because he can't have his regular seat," said a waiter, addressing a hotel proprietor.

"Go back, Mike, and propitiate him," said the proprietor. "Look here, misther," said the waiter to the guest a little later, "if yez don't like the way things is run in this house, get out or I'll propitiate yez pretty lively."

In all those examples, when closely studied and their character fully realized from the standpoint of suggestiveness and allusion, we invariably find that the subject of laughter is mental failure, stupidity, human folly, whether individual or social.

CHAPTER XIX

THE LUDICROUS AND THE LAW OF SUGGESTION

When a mental process, instead of attaining its aim, suggests the reverse inference of what has been intended, the laugh is raised by the failure and by the mental stupidity of the person. The following is an example:

A committee was accused of not attending to its work assiduously; only one half of the committee was doing any work, the others being idle. One of the members of the committee, an Irishman, undertook in a meeting the defence of the committee. "We are accused," he exclaimed, “that only one half of the committee is doing work, the other half being idle; as a matter of fact the reverse is the case."

We often find that the comic writer or speaker avails himself of suggestiveness and double play. There is first present the joke or the comic situation, and this is further emphasized by its lack of comprehension which reveals the stupidity of the person who manifests it by some foolish or absurd remark. The manifestation of the double play heightens the sense of the ludicrous.

"To make a slow horse fast," advised a wag, "is not to give him to eat."

"Would not the poor beast die?" asked an Englishman with much concern.

An American in playing golf with an Englishman said jestingly that in the United States golf balls squeak when they are lost. The Englishman was amazed at such a re

markable invention. An hour later he came to the American and told him that the invention was really extraordinary, but he could not understand how the golf ball knew when it was lost.

Often the stupidity of the person ridiculed is manifested by having him repeat a joke. The repetition is so constructed that the point of the joke is lost or even completely perverted. This is a form of dramatic play. In the first place, a joke is introduced, thus arousing the sense of the ludicrous; and, in the second place, a character is introduced on the scene, which is raised to a climax of the ludicrous by dullness of understanding. The ludicrous is emphasized by a process of double ridicule. The factor of suggestiveness runs all through the play.

We may take the following anecdote directed against the Englishman :

An American and Englishman chanced to pass by a small country station and saw an announcement "Ten miles to town. They who cannot read should ask the gateman." The American laughed and the Englishman followed suit. On his arrival home the Englishman told of the notice and exclaimed: "How silly! Suppose the gateman were not there."

Uncle Will reads the London Times in his office. Enters young Henry.

"Why, uncle," exclaims Henry, "I see you are behind the Times!"

Uncle Will laughs at the joke. In the evening, at dinner, Uncle Will repeats the joke to his wife, "Mary, a fine joke Henry made this morning. I read the paper and Henry said, 'Why, uncle, I see you are behind the newspaper.'" Uncle Will wondered why Mary did not laugh.

An Englishman saw an inscription on a tombstone: "Here lies an honest lawyer." No name was given, because the lawyer's name was Strange and every passerby, on seeing the inscription, would exclaim, "How Strange!" On coming home the Englishman related his experience of the nameless epitaph of the lawyer, Strange: "Here lies an honest lawyer.' Everybody who will pass by will exclaim: 'How peculiar!'"

Jack laughed at Harry's coat because it was too short. On which Harry remarked that it would be long enough before he got another one. Later on Jack communicated

the joke to his friend Tom.

"Tom," he said, "I heard a capital joke made by Harry. I told Harry that his coat was too short, and he said that it would be a long time before he got another."

"Where is the joke," asked Tom.

"Ah," exclaimed Jack, "but it was an excellent joke when Harry made it."

A man named Herring fell into a ditch. A wag passing by said: "There, Herring, you are in a fine pickle." A gentleman thick of wits heard it and told the story to his friends.

"A man by name Herring fell into a ditch and a fellow passed by and said: "There, Herring, you are in a fine condition.'"

"Well," observed one of the company, "where is the joke?"

"It was a good one when I heard it."

We have pointed out before that a joke falls flat if addressed to people who have not the proper training, knowledge, and experience. The comedies of Aristophanes will hardly be appreciated by a Hindoo or by a

Chinaman, nor would Boccaccio or Voltaire have been appreciated by a Greek or Roman audience. One must take into consideration the knowledge and experience of the people addressed. If the mass of associations, whether conscious or subconscious, is wanting, the whole play is lost. The joke does not call forth the appropriate associations and is either ignored or is even misunderstood. To appreciate a joke it must first of all be understood, and this presupposes the presence of conscious and subconscious associations which form the mass that apperceives the joke.

If we inspect the inner structure and function of the ludicrous, in whatever form it may be expressed, we find that these so-called apperceiving or synthetizing masses of association, whether conscious or subconscious, form the mainsprings of the joke or of the ludicrous. The force of the joke or of the ludicrous lies in the upheaval of masses of conscious and subconscious associations. All these associations must converge toward one focus in showing the low standard, the silliness of what is claimed to be normal, or what is thought to be superior.

The main force of the joke or of the situation regarded as ludicrous is the allusion, the suggestiveness, the great mass of associations of inferiority and superiority which becomes stirred up in the depths of the mind, conscious and subconscious. The stronger the allusion or the suggestiveness the greater the mass of conscious and subconscious associations. The more such associations are awakened to activity, the keener is the appreciation of the joke or of the ludicrous side of the object, of the person, or of the given situation. The allusion, the suggestiveness of the inferiority of the object laughed at forms the mainspring of the witty and the comic. In