The humorous story is told gravely; the teller does his best to conceal the fact that he even dimly suspects that there is anything funny about it. How To Tell A Story (1895)
To string incongruities and absurdities together in a wandering and sometimes purposeless way, and seem innocently unaware that they are absurdities, is the basis of the American art, if my position is correct. How To Tell A Story (1895)