COLOURED LAUGHTER.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20075, 16 April 1927, Page 15

COLOURED LAUGHTER.

What ia the colour of your laughter. That may sound an absurd question, and I admit that I never thought of laughter i i colours till I heard W. H Berry in “Princess Charming’’ at the Palace talk of the King's (George ha-ha-ha’s as “nastv dark brown laughs. Then it seemed such a particularly apt description that I began thinking of other people’s laughs in the form of colours. Colours and sounds are very closely allied, and it only needs a very little imagination to match them up in pairs (says G. F. M. in the Star). The poets often talk of laughter as silvery. That may mean only the sound of stfver bells tinkling, but doesn’t the shining beauty of polished silver also seem to fit in perfectly with _ the sound of musical laughter? The King’s laugh in “Princess Charming,” although gay, had a sinister sound that suggested > something dark and murky. It wasn’t bad enough to be black, that would be a very evil laugh. But dark brown fitted it perfectly. The grey laughs are just the opposite, especially the steel-grey laughs which are so often heard coming from a group of fashionably-dressed women. These sound cold and meaningless, and you may be pretty sure that their owners are artificial and heartless. The only grey laugh which .is beautiful is a dove-grey one. This is very seldom heard, for it belongs, like its sister the lavender laugh—to other times when old ladies wore caps and shawls and had gentle manners and peaceful minds. Blue laughs are generally young and up-to-date. There is the spirit of adventure in the sound. 'Hie owners of these laughs make splendid companions, for they are healthy and jolly people, and quite free from the modern diseases of nerves and craving for unnatural excitement. The possessors of the whole range of pink and red laughs are less easy to know. They may be quite charming, sympathetic, and intelligent men and women, but they are more likely to be self-seeking, vain, and cruel. Exquisite in sound is pale pink laughter, but if you listen carefully you will detect a tone of insincerity that should act as a warning. A man has been picked up by a British steamer who owed his life to an illuminated life-buoy thrown from a German steamer in a fog.