222.—AN OBESE BASSO.
The great basso, Lablache, besides being a very tall man was remarkably large and heavy. In fact, he was so large that, when living in London, he had a cab of extraordinary size built for his use, as the ordinary "growler" persisted in breaking down under his weight; and it was considerable more trouble to get out from a wrecked vehicle than it was to get into it. It is told that when he was one time singing in Havana, as he was riding along the street in a cab, the bottom of the carriage was crushed through by his heavy weight, letting his feet down on the ground. The cabman knew nothing of the accident but continued to drive on, serenely unconscious of his employer's plight. So there was nothing for the elephantine basso to do but to run along, keeping up with the cabby's pace, all the while calling to the driver to stop. Those who saw Lablache's plight had a hearty laugh at the spectacle of those fat legs sticking out from under the cab.
At another time he was cast in an opera for the part of a prisoner who had wasted away by years of incarceration in the dungeon. When this mountain of flesh came walking down the stage singing, "I am starving," the whole house broke into a roar of laughter, and the obese basso had to make an ignominious exit, followed by the shouts of the audience.
What a pair Lablache and Mme. Alboni would have made.