intestines were devoured by the imps amid the laughter and delight of
the peasant audience. Now all this has passed away. Wise and learned
men have taken the play in hand, and have left it a monument to their
piety and good taste. Everything grotesque, or barbarous, or
ridiculous has been eliminated. All else is subordinated to a faithful
and artistic representation of the life and acts of Christ. Stately
prose and the language of the Gospel narratives have been substituted
for doggerel verse. As a work of art, the Passion Play deserves a high
place in the literature of Germany.

One striking feature of the Passion Play is the absence of
superstitious elements. Beyond the dominating influence of the purpose
of God, which is brought into strong prominence, there is almost
nothing which suggests the supernatural or miraculous. That little
even is forgotten in the intensity of human interest. The Devil and
his machinations have vanished entirely. One sees in the religious
customs of the people of Oberammergau few of the superstitions common
among the peasant classes of other parts of Europe. In his little
book, "Oberammergau und Seine Bewohner," Pastor Daisenberger says:
"Superstitious beliefs and customs one does not find here." Even the
ordinary ghost-stories and traditions of Germany are outworn and
forgotten in this town.

In 1634, so the tradition says, the black death came to Oberammergau,
and one-tenth of the inhabitants died. The others made a vow, "a
trembling vow, breathed in a night of tears," that if God should stay
the plague, they would, on every tenth year, repeat in full, for the
edification of the people, the Tragedy of the Passion. Other
communities might build temples or monasteries, or could undertake
pilgrimages; it should be their duty to show "The Way of the Cross."