The pantomime may be subtle or gross, may be sympathetic to the story,
or only crudely analogous; but it will consist of those feelings which
are aroused by our conception of the role. And so, the original theme
as it circulates, is stressed, twisted, and embroidered by all the
minds through which it goes. It is as if a play of Shakespeare's were
rewritten each time it is performed with all the changes of emphasis
and meaning that the actors and audience inspired.
Something very like that seems to have happened to the stories in the
sagas before they were definitively written down. In our time the
printed record, such as it is, checks the exuberance of each
individual's fancy. But against rumor there is little or no checks and
the original story, true or invented, grows wings and horns, hoofs and
beaks, as the artist in each gossip works upon it. The first
narrator's account does not keep its shape and proportions. It is
edited and revised by all who played with it as they heard it, used it
for day dreams, and passed it on. [Footnote: For an interesting
example, see the case described by C. J. Jung, _Zentralblatt f?r
Psychoanalyse_, 1911, Vol. I, p. 81. Translated by Constance Long,
in _Analytical Psychology_, Ch. IV.]
Consequently the more mixed the audience, the greater will be the
variation in the response. For as the audience grows larger, the
number of common words diminishes.
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