THE MIKADO;
OR
THE TOWN OF TITIPU.
ACT I.
Scene.—Court-yard of Ko-Ko's Palace in Titipu. Japanese nobles discovered standing and sitting in attitudes suggested by native drawings.
CHORUS of NOBLES.
If you want to know who we are,
We are gentlemen of Japan:
On many a vase and jar—
On many a screen and fan,
We figure in lively paint:
Our attitudes queer and quaint—
You're wrong if you think it ain't, oh!
If you think we are worked by strings,
Like a Japanese marionette,
You don't understand these things:
It is simply Court etiquette.
Perhaps you suppose this throng
Can't keep it up all day long?
If that's your idea, you're wrong, oh!
Enter Nanki-Poo in great excitement. He carries a native guitar on his back and a bundle of ballads in his hand.
