It is a strange world, a sad world, a world full of miseries, and woes, and troubles. And yet when King Laugh come, he make them all dance to the tune he play. Bleeding hearts, and dry bones of the churchyard, and tears that burn as they fall, all dance together to the music that he make with that smileless mouth of him. Ah, we men and women are like ropes drawn tight with strain that pull us different ways. Then tears come, and like the rain on the ropes, they brace us up, until perhaps the strain become too great, and we break. But King Laugh he come like the sunshine, and he ease off the strain again, and we bear to go on with our labour, what it may be.
– Bram Stoker
Dracula, Chapter 13. Van Helsing laughs hysterically after Lucy’s funeral. His laughter is triggered by Arthur’s statement that he felt married to Lucy because he donated his blood to her. The others don’t have the heart to tell him they did the same. In this passage Van Helsing, speaking to Dr. Seward, explains how he finds humor in the midst of tragedy.