Oh! that music of Lehar's, that every one knows and every one whistles,
and that is played by every organ at every street-corner--what monstrous
secrets does it murmur to my heart!
_Ich gehe zu Maxim,_
_Da bin ich sehr intim..._
The joyous verses ring in my ears like the shrieks of maleficent Furies,
scourging me with nefarious counsels and diabolic commands....
And while little Tioka laughs and claps his hands, I, his mother, sink
ever deeper and deeper into the gulf of despair; and crime, like a sea
of mire, closes its corrupt waves over my head.