Los Angeles herald., 1891-06-13
THE OLD BASS VOL.


past, lay an old brown bass viol. No one
knew whence it came; the year of its
birth was mystery.
In past years the bass viol had occa-
sionally given a sign of life. If a bat
fiuttered by or a mouse ran over the
strings it would begin to chatter, like a
talkative woman, to tell stories of the
past and to sing songs of the bright days
of its youth. Later it would only grum-
q BILE little when the wind shook the
roof, but when the mice gnawed off all
the strings it lay silent and uncomplain-
ing in mold and dust. Immediately be-
meath this deserted garret was the dane
ing hall. There the pipes piped and the
fddles squeaked till all the dogs in town
howled in anguish and the ears of the
dancers were pierced through and
through by the sharp, shrill tones. And
no one knew how near lay the means of
softening this discord with good deep
bass note!
Now, the roguish little redtails love to
build in old lumber, and so it happened
that musical couple chose our silent
forsaken bass viol for home. This cir
cumstance drew the attention of mine
hosts little Friedel-an enthusiastic or
nithologist-to the old instrument, and
one day, amid clouds of dust and angry
remonstrances from the redtails, the boy
pulled the old ruin from its resting place
and dragged it down the attic stairs.
The Abelsbergers regarded the bass viol
as gift from heaven. The Joiner came
and repaired the broken case, the school
master with his great spectacles came
and put in new strings, and 10! at the
next yearly fair, amid the tones of the
pipes, sounded the deep voice of the ven
cradle instrument, as worthy accom-
paniment to devout hymns of praise to
the patron saint.
1t was a new awakened life, and there
was great rejoicing in Ober-Abelsberg.
AS is the usual custom at these fairs,
the way lay from the church directly to
the tavern and up to the dancing hall,
and of course the bass viol went along
too. Ii his reverence finds its possible
to drink wine from the chaice in the
morning and from the tankard in the
afternoon, it cannot be too difficult for
such venerable bass viol to play hymns
in the morning and waltzes and quad
rifles in the afternoon. And, as in the
church it had breathed out it's soul in
devotion, so in the tavern the strings
sent forth such gay and joyous tones that
the pastor himself could scarce refrain
from joining in the dance. So it went
ON for several years, the bass viol serving
in church choir and dancing hall, until
at one very jolly wedding the bride, dizzy
from the wild dance, sank down upon
the old instrument and crushed in its
back. Then it was laid aside for a year
or two, until the Abelsbergers, missing
the bass tones, brought out their old
friend and patched it up again, and again
there was great rejoicing.
Now there came time which farsee-
ing men called great and full of promise,
but which nevertheless turned many
quiet village into Bedlam. In such a
place in ordinary times one could find
plenty of good, honest workmen, few
cross officials, a fat priest or two, and
perhaps occasionally a thin sexton or
pious sister of charity, but now there
were only "hberals" or ''clericals" No
other distinctions were made, and if, for
instance, the liberals had been mascu
line and the "clericals" feminine, the
matter might have been easily settled;
but it was war between friend and
friend, between father and son, between
husband and wife, between priest and
burgomaster, and-between church and
tavern.
One would imagine that the venerable
bass viol, as common property of both
parties, might be point of neutrality;
"au contraire," as the more cultured put
it, it became very bone of contention.
The schoolmaster did not play in the
choir now, so the new choirnaster-
who not only served the clerical banner,
but even carried that banner himself
sent to the tavern for the bass viol.
But the innkeeper commenced to grum-
ble-'@the bass viol belonged to the lib
erals; the joiner mended it and the join
or was liberal; the schoolmasSerTput in
the strings, and the schoolnfaster was
liberal now; it was found in the tavern,
so the tavern was its home, and the tav-
ern was liberal. So the bass viol, bow
and all, was liberal"
Next Sunday the pastor had no text
from Holy Writ to expound; the bass
viol was his subject. He began. cheer
fully:
years ago, when the bass viol was
discovered, it was looked upon as a gift
from heaven, therefore it was clerical.
Its voice was first heard in the church,
and the schoolmaster who first played
it in church and tavern was clerical at
that time, and if the bride who sat on
the bass viol and broke its back was not
forgotten, he would call to mind that
that bride was now the wife of the sex
ton, and if he, the pastor, finally assert
ed that the instrument was originally
made for the church, no one in town
could prove the contrary, SO the bass
viol was clerical and belonged to the
clericals."
A very clear argument, but unfortu-
nately there was not liberal in the
church. The liberals sat in the tavern
and sang drinking songs to the accom-
paniment of the bass viol.
One evening, however, the chaplain
thought to himself, "Actionsspeak louder
-