Books › The story of the violin, 1904 › scan 40
Scan 40
The story of the violin, 1904
15 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1Tradition and the Scholar
3land of fairies, land of wonders, lying in the deep, dark ocean of time like a green sunlit island; where the very air is charged with perfume and with poetry, where the trees sing, they say, and where
5 "Die Lotosblume ängstigt
6 Sich vor der Sonne Pracht."—HEINE.
8Should India be the cradle of the violin? What did Tradition tell our scholar?
10Of course she is getting so old that she sometimes forgets or mixes up things. Who would not in repeating the same stories a million times, trying each time to make them new and interesting? One must also not expect her to be too particular about details; some inaccuracies in matters of place and time, a mistake of a thousand years or so, must be taken gracefully into the bargain. She likes it best if you forget over her lovely eyes and still more lovely voice aught else.
12Our scholar, knowing that, tried not to think too deeply while he sat listening at her feet.
14So she told him: "Seven thousand years or so ago [he winced a little here, he couldn't help it] there lived in the island of Ceylon, the ancient Leuka, a king. His name was Ravana. He was a great king, but he was also as great a singer and musician, for with the charm and power of his music he was even able to move the great and fearful god Siva, who loves the darkness as much as Brahma the light. This king and musician, Ravana, invented an instrument
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