Oldal 14 [14]
4. INTRODUCTION
Faust really owes its existence to the marion¬
ette-play by the same name which for many
generations delighted the German people and
gave Goethe the idea for his opera. And who
can doubt but that the wonderful mechanical
doli Ophelia in Offenbach’s operatic master¬
piece, The Tales of Hoffman, is a direct de¬
scendant of those primitive puppets?
In Italy puppet-plays have survived up to
the present, having reached a quite high degree
of artistic perfection. In our own country the
most familiar street puppet-show is Punch and
Judy—not forgetting their delectable baby—
and wherever this appears it never fails to draw
shrieks of laughter from the audience.
Pinocchio is by all odds the best puppet¬
story to be found anywhere, and we sigh in
sympathy with the funny little chap’s scrapes
and punishments, or chuckle at his pranks,
while we feel like exclaiming, “ Why, how much
Pinocchio must have been like me!”
The author of this captivating tale, Signor
Lorenzini, or “ Collodi’’—as he liked to call
himself after his native town in Italy—lived
during the Nineteenth Century (1826-90) and
devoted himself to writing and education, be¬
lieving that one pleasing way to teach was
through the puppet-plays.
LovuisE R. BULL