Narrator: In my humble estimation, any nation which loses its sense of humour has lost its soul. Well, we Czechs haven't and we won't. One of the best known characters in our literature is Old Schweik. He is a simple man. All the time gets into trouble, plays the fool but underwriting it all, he is a very tragic character. I have seen Schweiks in London during the Blitz - the wonderful Cockney whose house has been bombed, maybe a member of his family badly hurt, still he can take it with a smile, even a joke, although he feels it very intensely. Schweik is the Prague Cockney. He is a man who is ready to live for an idea or die for an ideal with a smile on his simple face.
