Slave Narratives

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1921 Excerpt: ...after all. The stage is, perhaps, the most superstitious institution in Eng land, after the race course. The latter is so superstitious that to wish a man luck when on his way to a race-meeting is considered unlucky. Instead of saying 'Good luck!' you should say something insulting such as, 'May you break your leg!' We have known an Irish race-goer's day to be clouded because someone wished him good fortune. Actors and actresses have not only all the ordinary superstitions, such as the picking up of pins, the dread of breaking looking-glasses, and the horror of certain numbers--they have also a number of professional superstitions. It is unlucky, they say, for instance, to quote Macbeth. Actors dare not say to each other at parting, 'When shall we three meet again?' No actress with a soul would advise a nervous fellow artist to 'screw her courage to the sticking point.' It is unlucky, again, during rehearsals, to quote the catchword of a forthcoming play in casual conversation. It is unlucky to carry a make-up box, like an amateur actress. Then there are certain theatres that are regarded as unlucky, and the superstitious actor is depressed at the prospect of having to appear at one of them. The luck may turn, we understand, if the name of the theatre is changed; this was probably the cause of the change of the name of one London theatre, which has since been succesful. Most of us are accustomed to regard superstitious people as unenlightened; and there is no one who feels more eminently wise than the man who rises first from a table at which thirteen guests have sat down. So far as we have discovered, however, the dividing line between those who are superstitious and those who are not is not the same as the line that divides enlightenment from unenlightenm...