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第19章

the village watch-tower-第19章

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There was a little money to be earned in this way; but very little;

as people in general regarded this 〃tinkering〃 as a pleasing diversion

in which they could indulge him without danger。  As an example

of this attitude; Dr。 Berry's wife's melodeon had lost two stops;

the pedals had severed connection with the rest of the works;

it wheezed like an asthmatic; and two black keys were missing。

Anthony worked more than a week on its rehabilitation;

and received in return Mrs。 Berry's promise that the doctor

would pull a tooth for him some time!  This; of course;

was a guerdon for the future; but it seemed pathetically distant

to the lad who had never had a toothache in his life。

He had to plead with Cyse Higgins for a week before that prudent

young farmer would allow him to touch his five…dollar fiddle。

He obtained permission at last only because by offering to give

Cyse his calf in case he spoiled the violin。  〃That seems square;〃

said Cyse doubtfully; 〃but after all; you can't play on a calf!〃

〃Neither will your fiddle give milk; if you keep it long enough;〃

retorted Tony; and this argument was convincing。



So great was his confidence in Tony's skill

that Squire Bean trusted his father's violin to him;

one that had been bought in Berlin seventy years before。

It had been hanging on the attic wall for a half century;

so that the back was split in twain; the sound…post lost;

the neck and the tailpiece cracked。  The lad took it home;

and studied it for two whole evenings before the open fire。

The problem of restoring it was quite beyond his abilities。

He finally took the savings of two summers' 〃blueberry money〃

and walked sixteen miles to Portland; where he bought a book

called The Practical Violinist。  The Supplement proved

to be a mine of wealth。  Even the headings appealed to his

imagination and intoxicated him with their suggestions;

On Scraping; Splitting; and Repairing Violins; Violin Players;

Great Violinists; Solo Playing; etc。; and at the very end

a Treatise on the Construction; Preservation; Repair;

and Improvement of the Violin; by Jacob Augustus Friedheim;

Instrument Maker to the Court of the Archduke of Weimar。



There was a good deal of moral advice in the preface that

sadly puzzled the boy; who was always in a condition of chronic

amazement at the village disapprobation of his favorite fiddle。

That the violin did not in some way receive the confidence

enjoyed by other musical instruments; he perceived from various

paragraphs written by the worthy author of The Practical Violinist;

as for example:



〃Some very excellent Christian people hold a strong

prejudice against the violin because they have always

known it associated with dancing and dissipation。

Let it be understood that your violin is 'converted;'

and such an obligation will no longer lie against it。

。 。 。 Many delightful hours may be enjoyed by a young man;

if he has obtained a respectable knowledge of his instrument;

who otherwise would find the time hang heavy on his hands;

or; for want of some better amusement; would frequent the

dangerous and destructive paths of vice and be ruined forever。

。 。 。 I am in hopes; therefore; my dear young pupil;

that your violin will occupy your attention at just those

very times when; if you were immoral or dissipated; you would

be at the grogshop; gaming…table; or among vicious females。

Such a use of the violin; notwithstanding the prejudices

many hold against it; must contribute to virtue; and furnish

abundance of innocent and entirely unobjectionable amusement。

These are the views with which I hope you have adopted it;

and will continue to cherish and cultivate it。〃



II。





〃There is no bard in all the choir;

。 。 。 。 。 。 。

Not one of all can put in verse;

Or to this presence could rehearse

The sights and voices ravishing

The boy knew on the hills in spring;

When pacing through the oaks he heard

Sharp queries of the sentry…bird;

The heavy grouse's sudden whir;

The rattle of the kingfisher。〃



Emerson's _Harp。_





Now began an era of infinite happiness; of days that were never

long enough; of evenings when bedtime came all too soon。

Oh that there had been some good angel who would have taken in hand

Anthony Croft the boy; and; training the powers that pointed so

unmistakably in certain directions; given to the world the genius of

Anthony Croft; potential instrument maker to the court of St。 Cecilia;

for it was not only that he had the fingers of a wizard; his ear

caught the faintest breath of harmony or hint of discord; as





〃Fairy folk a…listening

Hear the seed sprout in the spring;

And for music to their dance

Hear the hedge…rows wake from trance;

Sap that trembles into buds

Sending little rhythmic floods

Of fairy sound in fairy ears。

Thus all beauty that appears

Has birth as sound to finer sense

And lighter…clad intelligence。〃





As the universe is all mechanism to one man; all form and

color to another; so to Anthony Croft the world was all melody。

Notwithstanding all these gifts and possibilities;

the doctor's wife advised the Widow Croft to make a plumber

of him; intimating delicately that these freaks of nature;

while playing no apparent part in the divine economy;

could sometimes be made self…supporting。



The seventeenth year of his life marked a definite epoch

in his development。  He studied Jacob Friedheim's treatise until

he knew the characteristics of all the great violin models;

from the Amatis; Hieronymus; Antonius; and Nicolas; to those

of Stradivarius; Guarnerius; and Steiner。



It was in this year; also; that he made a very precious discovery。

While browsing in the rubbish in Squire Bean's garret to see

if he could find the missing sound…post of the old violin;

he came upon a billet of wood wrapped in cloth and paper。

When unwrapped; it was plainly labeled 〃Wood from the Bean

Maple at Pleasant Point; the biggest maple in York County;

and believed to be one of the biggest in the State of Maine。〃

Anthony found that the oldest inhabitant of Pleasant River remembered

the stump of the tree; and that the boys used to jump over it

and admire its proportions whenever they went fishing at the Point。

The wood; therefore; was perhaps eighty or ninety years old。

The squire agreed willingly that it should be used to mend the old violin;

and told Tony he should have what was left for himself。

When; by careful calculation; he found that the remainder would make

a whole violin; he laid it reverently away for another twenty years;

so that he should be sure it had completed its century of patient

waiting for service; and falling on his knees by his bedside said;

〃I thank Thee; Heavenly Father; for this precious gift; and I promise

from this moment to gather the most beautiful wood I can find;

and lay it by where it can be used some time to make perfect violins;

so that if any creature as poor and helpless as I am needs the wherewithal

to do good work; I shall have helped him as Thou hast helped me。〃

And according to his promise so he did; and the pieces of richly

curled maple; of sycamore; and of spruce began to accumulate。

They were cut from the sunny side of the trees; in just the right

season of the year; split so as to have a full inch thickness

towards the bark; and a quarter inch towards the heart。

They were then laid for weeks under one of the falls in Wine Brook;

where the musical tinkle; tinkle of the stream fell on the wood already

wrought upon by years of sunshine and choruses of singing birds。





This boy; toiling not alone for himself; but with full

and conscious purpose for posterity also; was he not worthy

to wear the mantle of Antonius Stradivarius?





〃That plain white…aproned man who stood at work

Patient and accurate full fourscore years;

Cherished his sight and touch by temperance;

And since keen sense is love of perfectness;

Made perfect violins; t

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