Page 160 - of-human-bondage-

with laughter. Not a melody in it from beginning to end! He
could imagine Richard Wagner sitting in his box and laugh-
ing till his sides ached at the sight of all the people who were
taking it seriously. It was the greatest hoax of the nineteenth
century. He lifted his glass of beer to his lips, threw back his
head, and drank till the glass was empty. Then wiping his
mouth with the back of his hand, he said:
‘I tell you young people that before the nineteenth centu-
ry is out Wagner will be as dead as mutton. Wagner! I would
give all his works for one opera by Donizetti.’

1