Legendary Nonsense
OW does any legend arise? Usually for lack of facts about the events it portrays. Cologne Cathedral remained unfinished for 600 years-plenty of time for any number of legends to arise! The play by the New York Radio Guild "The Legend of Cologne Cathedral," broadcast from 4YA, makes uncertain
capital out of a few facts, such as the killing of the architect when lightning struck the stone bearing his name, and his subsequent descent into oblivion. Surely the facts are enough ‘without any legend. But here it is, demoniac atmosphere and all. The architect is visited by night by a Master Architect whom the listener will immediately recognise as Old Nick, who points out the unlikely fact that in several months the architect has produced no new plans for Cologne Cathedral, but merely copies of such famous cathedrals at Chartres, Strasbourg, Rheims, etc. The architect, who by some moronish mistake has completely overlooked this trifling error, agrees to sell his soul in return for the Master Plan. His lovely daughter consults the Abbe, who fools Mephisto by means of a sacred relic (this part was a bit complicated, and I confess I didn’t follow it) and lo! the devil’s cathedral is built to the. glory of God! The subsequent true happenings are attributed to a judgment on the architect for the sin of pride. If this is good material for a radio play, the psychologists are correct who estimate the average listener's mental age as 12 years,
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19450126.2.11.9
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 12, Issue 292, 26 January 1945, Page 6
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249Legendary Nonsense New Zealand Listener, Volume 12, Issue 292, 26 January 1945, Page 6
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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