Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1871-06-01
THE ONE.STRINGEb FIDDLE.

10 ne sure.
We were up in the garnet. What is a
house good for, without garnet
What is garnet good for, unless it has
old things in it? What are old things
good for, unless You can go and rum
mage them, and ''oh !" and "ah !"
about them, when it comes rainy
day.
"Well. well, here's the old fiddle
Many's the time you have played 'Mer-
rily, oh = and Hunters Chorus, and
tPompey Ducklegs. I'd been wonder
ing what had become OF you and here
YOU arel Well, WE'LL"
BY this time the fiddle woke up and
began to want things
Merrily, OH Play Merrily oh !
Play on me! Make ME laugh want
something. ! amt happy"
"But said |, ''you are not ready to
be played on. You have but one string,
and that is a G string, green and good
for nothing; there is no Merrily, oh =
in you, and can't get it ont. "
"Yah !" yelled the fiddle, 81 don't
like it. | don't want to be walked up.
/ want to be happy. Play on NE.
Make me merry"
II tell YOU can't play on you. You
haven't strings enough. The string
YOU have won't bear tuning"
"Yah !" said the fiddle like cross
baby.
SO I set the fiddle un on the button
of its tailpiece, and put the bridge in
place, and the & string, and as near as
1 could guess without htning fork,
began to strain it up. 7HrOom,
THRONE, Mrum, MrHn. And when it
made little noise something like
music, | put the fiddle under my chin.
and took the old bow and sawed away
on the G. stliag, playing slow tune
with i've notes n +.
The fiddle was pleased, and said
g Do 80 some more. 4
So l playeG am again and again,
Just as you whistle to baby to amuse
him, or tell stories to little boys
BY and by the fiddle snarled out, ''I'm
tired of that tune. Play something
else
"But | can't play much on one
string, | said. IF you will have two
strings, will play six tunes but on
one string | can't play much,
"Well, | want six tunes" said the
fiddle.
Every well, when you have two
strings you can have six tunes and with
three strings, sixty; and with four
strings, six thousand-aH the tunes in
the world. But you are nothing but n
poor, one-striuged fiddle now, | can't
do much with You unless you have more
strings
"Well, | want some more strings,
said the fiddle. sa @
At that put the fiddle back into the
barrel, and went down stairs.
What was that noise up stairsP"
asked the children.
So" said |, g was playing on my
fathers old, one stringed fiddle.
where is it, Bring it down,
they said.
So told my boy where it was and
lor him bring it down. And I heard
the fiddle say, Nov this it something
Now I'll have good time.
And as he came into the warm par
lor, he made noise on his one string
like The purring of cat The fiddle
was contented for as much as Il minute,
and lay on his back on the table, look
ing around with his four black pegs of
ewes OF each side of it's throat, and
really seemed quite and satisfied.
| talked with the children about the
tunes that the old fiddle had played,
and as long as | talked about it, the
fiddle purred Then | played the five
note tune to the children and they said
"Isthat all}
Then young lady sat down mt nay
piano and played splendid march.
And the fiddle stopped purring, and
tried to twist off behind pile of books
out of sight and said,
play on me. Make noises ON me
like that"
.sWhy, | can't said |. "Just see r
So | opened the piano and showed
the diseol tented fiddler more than two
hundred strings in the piano, and more
than eighty hammers to strike these
strings. ''You haven't strings enough
to sound like the piano. You can't be a
pinno, if you try.
"Well, what can | be I"
Only fiddle.
"Am I u fiddle now
"Not much! You have but one
string, and that the lowest, the q
string You need d string, and an
A string, and an E string, and when
| have time ! viii get them, for you
Bat nobody can make much out of you
as long as Won have but one string"
Wei, said the fiddle, :" If | cant
lie piano, / don't want to be any
thing"
And snap went the old, rusty, rotten
q string. and down fell the bridge, and
there lay the fiddle, like sulky boy