_THE TIMES'_ THIRD LEADER.
The statement made in these columns by a well-informed correspondent that
the incomparable NIJINSKY is so delicate that by his doctor's decree he is
obliged to abstain from all forms of exercise save that involved in his
beloved art, gives us, in the vivid phrase of our neighbours, "furiously to
think." At the first blush incredulity prevails, but recourse to the annals
of history, ancient and modern alike, furnishes us with abundant
confirmation of this strange anomaly. HANNIBAL was a martyr to indigestion,
while his great rival, SCIPIO AFRICANUS, suffered from sea-sickness even
when crossing the Tiber. Wherever we look we are confronted with the
spectacle of genius fraying its way to the appointed goal in spite of
physical drawbacks which would have paralysed meritorious mediocrity. WOLFE
was a _poitrinaire_, and NELSON would never have passed the medical
examination to which the naval cadets of to-day are subjected. But the case
of NIJINSKY is more tragic because abstinence from skating and riding, of
which he was passionately fond, entails greater anguish on so sensitively
organised a temperament than it would on a mere man of action, and the
suffering of a great artist may lead to international complications which
it is terrible to complicate. Russian dancing is as necessary to the
well-being of our social system as standard bread, yet when we think of the
sacrifices which its hierophants undergo in order to minister to our
pleasure the sturdiest Hedonist cannot escape misgivings. Still, we may
find consolation in the thought that sacrifice is necessary to perfection.
Such sacrifices take various forms. In the case of NIJINSKY we see a man of
immense brain power specialising in a most exhausting form of physical
culture to remedy his extreme delicacy. At the opposite extreme we find
cases of men so extraordinarily powerful that they are obliged to abandon
all exercise and lead a purely sedentary life in order to counteract their
abnormal muscularity. Thus Lord HALDANE, who in his earlier days thought
nothing of walking to Cambridge one day and back to London on the next, has
now become more than reconciled to the immobility imposed on the occupant
of the Woolsack.
It needs no little exercise of the imagination to form a mental picture of
Lord HALDANE as a member of the Russian ballet, or, to put it in a more
concrete form, making the famous flying exit in _Le Spectre da la Rose_.
Could fancy be translated into fact, the drawing power of such a spectacle
would be prodigious. On the other hand, and in view of the notorious
adaptability of the Slavonic temperament, we can well imagine NIJINSKY
proving an admirable Lord Chancellor. Exchanges of this sort would add to
the comity of nations besides enhancing the amenities of public life, and
it is perhaps not too much to hope that provision for carrying this out may
be in the Government's scheme for the Reform of the House of Lords.
* * * * *
"New Zealand mutton was yearly increasing in public
flavour."--_Times._
It mustn't get too powerful.
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