LETTERS OF A JAVANESE PRINCESS
guage about India. We always read her articles in the Gids with much pleasure.
In everything that concerns nature and art, and in "dreams," Borel is delightful. On other subjects he has less good to say, he goes hand in hand with his friend Veth. Have you read what Borel has written about the gamelan? We think it a little jewel. And did you see the article by Martine Tonnet about the Wajang Orang at the court of Djokaarta? That too is a jewel. I wish that Borel would go there, he might feel inspired to break into charming poetry. The dance [1] of the Princes of Solo and Djokaarta must be magnificent. It is the dance of dances it is said. It is a pity that we cannot go to Djokaarta. We have often been invited, but it would be so wearisome to dress in court costume, and at court every one must be dressed (like a bride).
Do you know that fairy story by Marie Marx-Koning? We think it very fine. It seems to me that she must be a great admirer of Van Eeden. "T'Vioolje dat weten wilde," reminds me of "De Kleine Johannes." Do you not like that too? It is so true in thought, and in style it is charming.
I read what you wrote of your little protegé with great interest, and also what you said of the poor in Holland. I hear much of the misery of the poor there when winter comes. Poor, poor simple creatures! I correspond with a Frieslander; she tells me about conditions in Holland, especially in Friesland. In the winter time she has often sat down on the ground beside poor people who lived in little hovels of straw. The middle of winter, no work, nothing to eat, no fire, no clothes, no warm covering, and crying children. It is bitterly hard.
- ↑ For a description of the deince of the Princes at the court of Soerakaarta, see "Un Sejour dans I'ile de Java" by Jules LeClercq. Chap. 14, p. 169.
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