Creole Sketches/Louisiana People Not Gay
LOUISIANA PEOPLE NOT GAY[1]
"It seems to me," said the Parisian, "that in spite of an exquisite climate, the people of Louisiana are one of the most solemn-faced I ever saw. There is no real gayety under this glorious sky. People seldom laugh here; when they do, the laugh is apt to be cynical. Workmen do not sing while they work; boys seldom whistle when they go along the street. The farther south I go, the more I find this to be the case. It is true, the negroes sing; but their melodies are the saddest and weirdest I ever heard. Why, in Paris the workshops are merry as birds' nests — it is one ceaseless caroling from morning till night; and in European countries the singing of laborers and farmers is proverbial; song appears to be a part of their existence. I fancy that there must be something sad in the very intensity of life near the tropics."
"In some respects I agree with you," said the Englishman; "but I think the difference is due to the nature of the country. People do not sing in low flat countries, nor do they give vent to much reckless merriment. They sing in the mountains, and laugh among the hills. The hilly countries are the musical countries. Man seems happier the nearer he lives to the stars. It is not in low plains watered by great rivers like the Nile, the Ganges, or the Mississippi, that we need look for merriment; but among the mountain districts of Europe and America."
- ↑ Item, November 4, 1879.