Lilac Fairy Book

Chapter 37 The Magic Song

Morris?Connor is the king of the bagpipers in Munster, and he is famous.He could play jigs and reels incessantly, and Orlistenham's March, Eagle's Whistle, Hen's Concerto, and all sorts of queer things.Among them is a piece of music that is the most magical. It has a magical power that can bring the dead back to life and dance.

How he learned it, I don't know, and he is secretive about how he acquired this magical tune.As soon as the melody was played, everyone, young or old, who listened to the melody, started to move their shoes, as if arguing, and then started to walk and walk, until finally jumping up and down like crazy, "whoosh" The land suddenly turns here, and the "swoosh" suddenly turns there, like a straw in a storm.As long as the music doesn't stop, it won't stop.

If you can't invite blind Morris within ten miles and eight villages, then whether it's a fair, a wedding or a banquet, it's not worth mentioning.Poor mother used to lead Morris from one place to another like a dog on a leash.

Morris?Connor and Mom are touring the Avra ​​area.This is a country unlike any other, with its treacherous coast and steep hills, and, like the rest of Ireland, it is easy to drown or break your neck if you want to.Nevertheless, Skellig Bay in Ballins is distinguished by a small flat land, with a clean, smooth beach just down the water.It was summer, the sea was calm, and there was a dead silence under the moonlight, only the microwaves rolled and slapped the beach gently.

Morris used music to call a large number of girls and boys here from all over the place, and it was not every day that Trafrasca Beach was disturbed by the sound of bagpipes.The dance began, and it was wonderful.After Morris had finished, everyone said, "What a beautiful piece of music, and a great blow."

"May your arms be stronger, Maurice, and may the sea be calm." Paddy?Doman wished.Paddy was a hunchback dancing master, and he was called in to keep order. "It would be a pity if the bagpiper should keep his mouth dry after he has played us such fine music," said the master. It would be a disgrace to Evra." And Paddy, always polite, asked, "Would you like a drink, Piper?"

"Yes, sir," Morris replied.That's a good answer, because a piper or teacher never refuses a drink.

"What would you like to drink, Maurice?" Paddy asked.

"Whatever," said Morris, "I'll drink anything but raw water. If you don't mind, Mr. Dorman, you might give me a whiskey."

"I don't have a glass, Maurice," said Paddy, "I only have a bottle."

"That's all right," Morris replied. "My mouth just fits a cup, and I check it all the time."

Paddy was so foolish as to actually give the bottle to Morris, and it was painful to see that Morris's mouth could only hold a glass of wine at a time, but because of the hole in his throat, Morris filled it many times.

"The whiskey is fine," Morris said, returning the empty bottle.

"Dear me!" said Paddy, "there's nothing left of the North-West in the bottle. You've drank it all, and we can't judge the wine but the strength of the whiskey by your words." Indeed, Mo Reese didn't leave any wine behind.

I don't need to tell anyone these days that drinking a bottle of wine in one sitting is not the same thing as drinking a bottle of water, and I've only met five people in my life who drank a bottle of wine and were fine.Morris, though often drunk, was not among the five.Don't think I'm blaming him, but there's a saying that's true: "When alcohol is on your head, you'll go out of the house rationally." When he was slightly drunk, he could blow out such beautiful music in one breath.

The dance was truly unbelievable beyond words.Morris himself couldn't calm down, and sometimes supported his body with his left leg and sometimes with his right leg, like a boat in a raging sea, running around in order to add atmosphere to the song.Maurice's mother was there too, an old bone as light as the youngest girl on the dance floor, but compared with what happened on the beach, the old mother's dance, no, the dance of everyone present, was not worth mentioning.It turned out that every inch of the beach was crowded with all kinds of fish, jumping up and down with the music, and under the influence of the wonderful music, more and more fish jumped in and out of the water.The giant crab is as dexterous as a dancing master, with one paw on the ground, whirling, while the other paws are like human limbs, twisting and swinging back and forth, as if they were not their own paws.The scene in front of me is amazing.You may have heard of Florence?Papa Kangli.Dad is very forthright, making people want to have a few drinks with him in the hot summer.He saw the dancing fish and wrote a pretty good doggerel, and it would be a pity if he didn't tell you.The limerick reads as follows:

dancing leopards,

Like the waves of the sea.

happy school of fish,
crabs, lobsters and crayfish,

All resolved to dance.

Dancing to the music,

The cod gasped and swallowed,

Everything is so wonderful.

turbot and plaice,
Mixed among rounder fish,
Jump around happily.

When the dory came trotting,
Sea cod bouncing all the way,
As fast as the wind blows.

The multicolored mackerel leaps,
Like a rainbow soaring,

Go straight to the moon for nine days.

cod, haddock,

Leaving home in salt water,
Just to come and dance.

the flat-faced gray ray,
Drive away the old flounder,
Leave the halibut as a stepping stone.

big herring, small herring,

The number is too many to count,
Like silver rain.

How long is the blue whiting,
How many blue cod,
The road to the beach is difficult.

shellfish and oysters,
Its shell sounds crisp,
Only the sound of castanets can be followed.

line after line,
Ligai's figure appeared,
Swaying and sweet laughter.

There has never been such cheers in the world, and it can be said that the earth is shaking and the mountains are shaking, unprecedented and unprecedented.It's all made possible by Maurice Connor's fantastic music.

At the moment of climax, among the dancing fish, a beautiful girl appeared, as beautiful as the dawn.She wears a hat on her head, and her long green hair, the color of the sea, hangs down behind her, which doesn't affect her dance in the slightest.Her teeth are like pearls, her lips are like coral, and she wears a long dress of pale green glittering like waves, embroidered with strings of purple and red seaweed.Whether on or off the water, you've never seen a girl so tastefully dressed.

The girl walked towards Maurice with dance steps.Maurice was jumping around like a grasshopper now, because when he played music, nothing in the world was quiet.The girl sang a song to him, in a voice as sweet as honey:

I am of noble birth,
Live in the sea.

Come on Maurice Connor,

Hurry up and marry me.

you will have

Calendula on silver plate
Be the king of fishes,

As long as you marry me.

The whiskey got Morris on a bit, and he responded with a song.Not every girl would agree to marry a blind piper, so Maurice reciprocated the favor, singing:
Thank you for your kindness, girl.

Be the king of fishes,

Possesses a calendula on a silver plate,

I would be very honored.

I would love to marry you,
marry you, father's daughter,
But make me thirsty for salt water,

I can't do anything!

The girl looked at him ecstatically, shook her head like a scholar, and said: "Maurice, if you are not a poet, where can you find this poetry?"

In this way, the two complimented each other, sang to each other, and their tongues, like their feet, danced to the music.The school of fish continued to dance, too, and Morris, hearing the commotion, did not dare to stop playing, fearing that it would upset the fish.

The green-haired girl continued to sweet talk Morris, and finally persuaded him to agree to marry herself and become the king of all fish.If fish need someone who can make them dance, then Morris is a good fit to be their king.Of course he would drink with all the fish, but not salt water.

When Maurice's mother saw her son with the fish spirit who appeared in the form of a green-haired girl, under the guidance of the girl, the two danced intimately to the water's edge, and she, who was deep in the fish, called out to her son, Tell him to stop and come back. "Oh," she complained, "as if it wasn't enough for me to be a widow, now my son is leaving me to marry that scaly woman. My God! I might be a cod's grandmother! Lord oh, have pity on me, please help me. She's a catfish. I might boil my own grandson and serve it with some salted butter, and I don't know it! Oh, Maurice Maurice, if you still love your mother and have any conscience, go back to your mother. She raised you to be a decent Christian!" Then the poor old woman wept, to the dismay of everyone. I can't bear to listen.

Morris was soon at the water's edge, where he continued to blow and dance as if nothing was going to happen.A great wave came roaring towards him, trying to swallow him up, but he could not see it, and was not afraid.His mother saw all this clearly, and tears rolled down her cheeks.Although she saw it, her heart ached like a mother's heart, but she continued to dance without stopping, meaninglessly.She couldn't help it, no doubt, for Morris kept on blowing that magic tune.

He just turned his ear to his mother's crying, worried that the crying would disrupt his dance steps.His only answer was: "Shhh, mother. I will definitely be the king of all fish in the sea. As a lucky charm, and as a sign that I am alive and kicking, on this day every year, I will send a piece of charred wood to the Trafrasca Beach." Maurice couldn't go on, because the strange green-haired girl saw the big waves coming, and covered herself and Maurice with what looked like a hooded cloak.The waves, as high as two people, crashed on the beach with a deafening sound that could be heard in the farthest corners.

On this day, twelve months later, a charred log washed up on Trafrasca Beach.It was strange that Morris would send such a thing all the way from the bottom of the sea.A dress or a pair of shoes might be a gift for poor mother, but since he said so, he had to do it.Every year on the appointed day, this piece of wood will be washed ashore for more than 100 years.People have forgotten this day, maybe that's why people say Morris?The reason why Connor stopped giving lucky charms to his mother.Poor old lady, she didn't even see a lucky charm.Less than three weeks after the prom, she died of depression over the loss of Morris and fears that she would eat her grandson.Some say she died of exhaustion, but whatever the cause of death, Mrs. Connor was buried with dignity next to her loved ones.

On a quiet night, sailors often hear music coming from the water on the coast of Kerry, and some people with good ears can clearly recognize the voice of Maurice Connor playing the bagpipes:
The beautiful coast, the vast sandy beach,
Crystal waters, diamond-like gravel,

If it weren't for my beautiful girl,
I never want to be separated from you.

(End of this chapter)