Taking it for the joke it must surely be, Dixon laughs, "Ha, ha, ha! Oh, thah's a bonny one, all right."
* * * * * * * * * *
Line 110 Vulgarized:
Dixon would be insane to think Mason was being serious and so laughs at the crazy idea of enjoying a hanging. "Ha, ha, ha! That's a pretty good joke!"
Subtext:
Our temperaments and our prejudices keep us from perceiving things in the way the thing is being presented. If the event or scene before an observer is natural and therefore neutral, they will project their own tone on it. It's like viewing an animal draped over the arm of a couch. Some might see it as bored, others as sulking, maybe even angry. But it's probably just resting and waiting for food, its posture suggesting no human emotion at all. As here, where Dixon, jovial and good-natured, cannot imagine somebody finding some kind of entertainment or spiritual solace in visiting a horrific event like a public hanging. And so he laughs at the idea.
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