Has a dignitary died, that there are amateur maids of honour and amateur groomsmen? Has an actor died that two actors are reciting his lines? Has a member of the House died that there are some minor members of the government? Has a soldier and member of the Sokol died that a soldier with a patriotic tongue is speaking over his grave? Has a member of the political right died that there are stellar right-wing figures? Dr. Krejčí, for instance.
The coffin was carried by the writers Hora, Knap, Seifert, Halas, Grmela, Janský, Novák, Sedlák, Sekanina, Hais Týnecký and Antonín Veselý. Hora, Seifert and Halas were used to show that writers of the National Partnership are consecrated with a poetic spirit. Gentlemen, forgive me, sue me - I did not like you at all! I am a poor wretch, but I would rather be buried in a pit than have the funeral you have arranged, yes, out of good will, for our poet.
Too much goodwill is also harmful. Why didn't you at least let Nezval in? And lest I forget! I also saw Dr. Rutte among you. He had an editorial on Mácha in Národní listy (The National Newspaper). What use are all those beautiful words about the suffering of a Czech writer?
Perhaps if Dr. Rutte had been a contemporary of Mácha, he would have been one of those who (mutatis mutandis) acknowledged (?) a certain talent in Mácha, but would have condemned him for his innovativeness and revolutionary spirit. With a few exceptions, all the participants at yesterday's funeral represented precisely the kind of people who, if they had been Mácha's contemporaries, would have persecuted him. That's why yesterday's funeral seemed like a lengthy formality.
I understand that Pirandello wanted to be buried without people present. And you understand, gentlemen, why F.X. Šalda didn't want anyone to speak over his grave?