OCR Text |
Show Trials of Prodigy's Mother This is one of tho great seasons of tho infnnt prodigy a phenomenon becoming be-coming moro plentiful every jcar. But bohlnd tho trlumplis of tho Infant prodigy prod-igy thcro Is Bomotlmcs a pathetic little family history, as witness tho following follow-ing account of her lifo and that of hor child given by Mmo. Annlo Vlvantl, tho mother of Vivien Chartos, whoso violin playing Is sending London mnd. I find tho account in tho Pall Mall Magazine for Juno. I transcrlbo It as n wonderful little human document: docu-ment: "'Nobody,' snjs tho mother, 'would bollovo how dlfllcult It Is to bo tho I mother of a wunderklnd. Everything I do Is wrong; everything tho child docs Is "for effect"; c-verythlng wo say is utterly untrue. If Vivien runs up to mo and klssos mo, I hear It murmured mur-mured that sho Is trained to do bo. So I tell her nover to do It again. Im-1 Im-1 medlntoly pcoplo romark how cold 1 am to tho child. No, I am not at all hnppy. Tho dear child horsolf Is spoilt by the compassion that visitors lavish upon her and vaguely foels that It Is hard lines that she should bo a wunderklnd. On tho other hand, if I suggest taking her violin awny, sho shrieks and is naughty. I cannot punish pun-ish her, lest the neighbors should think wo nro beating her to mnko hor practice Tho child knows this, and cries whenover sho wants anything sho ought not to havo; and her digestion diges-tion Is utterly mined by tho amount of horrid things wo allow her to eat rather than that sho should scream for them. " 'Of course, thoro aro moments of thrilling happiness that compensato for much anxloty nnd worry. " 'It Is a great Joy to seo Vivien step out on tho platform, whero a thousand pcoplo look at her and lovo her for tho music thnt sho makes. When tho applause rises round her like a storm her smilo meets mine, and my heart beats loud with happiness at tho thought that that little girls belongs to mot " 'But docs sho really belong to mo?'" M. A. P. |