So in the present instance there is no need to conceal the fact that there are outbreaks of eroticism and offences against the German language which are none the less flagrant and censurable because they are, to some extent, concealed under the thin veneer of the allegory and symbolism which every reader must have recognized as running through the play.

This is, in a manner, Wagnerian, as so much of the music is Wagnerian--especially that of the second act, which because it calls up scenes from the "Meistersinger" must also necessarily call up music from the same comedy.

But there is little cause here for quarrel with Professor Humperdinck.

He has applied the poetical principle of Wagner to the fairy tale which is so closely related to the myth, and he has with equal consistency applied Wagner's constructive methods musically and dramatically.

It is to his great honor that, of all of Wagner's successors, he has been the only one to do so successfully.
The story of "Konigskinder," though it belongs to the class of fairy tales of which "Hansel und Gretel" is so striking and beautiful an example, is not to be found as the author presents it in the literature of German Marchen.Mme.Bernstein has drawn its elements from many sources and blended them with the utmost freedom.