Coromo in New York, parts 1607 - 1610

 

1607. “You know,” said Buboni, “I hardly think it is possible to convey the effect of a work of art which is performed on the stage using only words. One has to ask how much is lost when one condenses a visual event into a series of sentences. The answer is, almost everything. The subtleties we see with the eyes are of a different sort than the nuances we hear with the ears.”

 

1608. With that banter Buboni tries to assuage The Duck’s feelings about his failed story. Then, just out of playful spite Buboni woke Aunt Jemima up and asked her what she thought of the Otis story. She may have been asleep but she had a ready answer.

1609. “My feeling about Otis is the same as Huckleberry Finn’s feelings about Moses, when he said, ‘The Widow Douglas got out her book and learned me about Moses and the Bulrushers, and I was in a sweat to find out all about him; but by and by she let it out that Moses had been dead a considerable long time; so then I didn't care no more about him, because I don't take no stock in dead people.’”

1610. The only thing I find interesting is the part about Otis creating something that becomes well known and respected and yet he gets no credit for it. Not only does he receive no credit, but also there is nobody who even suspects that he is the creator of the Grapepox Skit. Now let’s consider this question of attribution, the question of if it matters if you are recognized for the things you have done.