Frgs crak. Cats mew. Dgs bark. Sheep bleat. Cws m. Lins rar. Hyenas laugh.
Butnly birds and peple sing. And peple can d what birds cannt. They can als make musicutf things.
HAVE yu ever made a cigar-bx fiddler a pin pianr musical glasses？
In the lng-ag stry-bk times， Apll tk a pairf cw hrns and fastened between them seven strings made frm the cw"s skin. This was called a lyre. These strings he picked with his fingerr with a quill， making a little tinkling sund that culd hardly have been very beautiful. Yet Apll"s sn，rpheus， is said t have learned frm his father t play s beautifullyn the lyre that the birds and wild beasts and even trees and rcks gathered arund t hear him.
Pan， the gdf the wds， wh had gat"s hrns， and ears and legs and feet， tied tgether several whistlesf different lengths and playedn these as yu mightn a muthrgan. This instrument was called Pan"s pipes.
The lyre and Pan"s pipes were twf the earliest musical instruments. The first was a stringed instrument， the secnd a wind instrument. The lng strings and lng pipes made lw ntes； the shrt strings and shrt pipes made high tnes.
Frm Apll"s lyre we get the pian with its many， many strings. Did yu ever lk at the insidef a pian and see the many stringsf different lengths？ They are， hwever， nt picked as the stringsf a lyrer harp are picked， but hammered by little felt-cvered blcks as yu tuch the keys.
Frm Pan"s pipes we get the great churchrgan with its pipes like giantwhistles. Yu dn"t，f curse， blw the pipes with yur muth as yu d a whistle. The pipes are s big yu must blw them with a machine.
We knw what the instruments inlden times were like， but we dn"t knw what the music that peple made was really like； there were n phngraphsr tapes t bttle up the sunds and， when uncrked a thusand years later， t pur frth theld ntesnce again. The music wentff int thin air and was lst.
It was nt until abut the Year 1000 A.D. that music culd even be written dwn. Befre then all music was played by ear， fr there was n written music. A Benedictine mnk named Guy，r， in Italian， Guid， thughtf a way t write dwn musical ntes， and he named the ntes d， re， mi， fa， and sn. These were the first lettersf the wrdsf a hymn t St. Jhn which the mnks sang like the scale.
Anther Italian is smetimes called the Fatherf Mdern Music. His name is Palestrina， and he died in 1594. He set the church service t music， and the pperdered all churches t fllw it， but the peple didn"t like his music very much； that is， it was nt what we call ppular.
It was nt until a hundred years later-that is， abut 1700-that the first great Eurpean musician lived wh wrte music that was really ppular， that the peple in Eurpe and America lved， and that we still lve tday.
He was a German named Handel. His father was a barber， a dentist， and dctr， and he wanted his by t becme a great lawyer. But thenly thing the by liked was music.
In thse days there were n pians. There was a little instrument with strings which was played by tuching keys. This was called a clavichrd. Smetimes ithad legs like a table. Smetimes it had n legs and was just laidn a table.
Handel， thughnly six yearsld， gt hldfnef these instruments， and， withut anyne findingut abut it， he had it put up in his rm in the atticf his huse. After everyne had gne t bed at night， he wuld practicen this clavichrd until late， when he was suppsed t be in bed.ne night his family heard sunds up under the rf.
Handel is fund in the attic ( 韩德尔被发现在阁楼上 )Wndering what it culd be，they tk a lantern， and， quietly climbing the attic stairs， they suddenlypened the dr， and there sat little Handel in his nightclthesn a chair with his feet reachingnly half way t the flr， playingn the clavichrd.
After that， Handel"s father saw it was n use trying t make his sn a lawyer. He gt teachers fr him， and befre lng the by amazed the wrld with his playing. He went t England， lived there， became an Englishman， and when he died the English peple buried him in Westminster Abbey， a church in which famus Englishmen were buried.
Handel set partsf the Bible t music. These sngs with the Bible wrds t be sung by a chrusf vices were calledratris， andnef theseratris named The Messiah is sung almst everywhere at Christmas time. In additin t his religius music， Handel wrte frty-sixperas！
Living at the same time as Handel was anther German musician named Bach. Bach played divinelyn thergan as Handel didn the clavichrd and wrte smef the finest music fr thergan that ever had been written. Strange that bth Handel and Bach went blind in theirld age， but t them it was sund， nt sight， that cunted mst. Which d yu think "cunts mre"？
Almst all musical geniuses have been musical wnders when they were still babies. They have been great musicians even befre learning t read and write.
ne such genius was brn just befre Bach and Handel died. He was an Austrian named Mzart.
Mzart， whennly fur yearsld， played the pian wnderfully. He als wrte music-cmpsing， it is called-frthers t play.
Mzart"s father and sister played very well， s the three wentn a cncert tur. Mzart， the by wnder， played befre the empress， and everywhere he went he was treated like a prince， petted and praised and given parties and presents.
He grew up and married， and ever after he had the hardest kindf time trying t make a living. He cmpsed all srtsf things， plays with music calledperas， and symphnies， which are written fr whlerchestras t play； but he made s little mney that when he died he had t be buried where they put peple wh were t pr t have a grave fr themselves alne. Peple afterward thught it a shame that such a great cmpser shuld have n mnumentver his grave， but then it was t late t find where he was buried. A mnument was put up， but t this day nne knws where Mzart"s bdy lies.
A German named Beethven had read the striesf the by wnder， Mzart， and he thught he， t， wuld like t have a by wnder t play befre kings and queens. When his sn wasnly five yearsld， he kept the by practicinglng hurs at the pian until he became s tired that the tears ran dwn his cheeks. But Ludwig Beethven， as he was named， finally came t benef the greatest musicians wh have ever lived. He culd sit at the pian and make up the mst beautiful music as he went alng-imprvise， as it is called-but he was never satisfied with it when written dwn. Time and time again he wuld scratchut and rewrite his music until it had been rewrittenften a dzen times.
But Beethven"s hearing began t grw dull. He was wrried that he might lse it entirely-a terrible thing t happen t anyne， but tne whse hearing was his frtune， nthing culd be wrse. At last he did becme deaf. This lssf his hearing made Beethven hpelessly sad and bad-tempered， crss with everything and everybdy. Nevertheless， he didn"t give up； he keptn cmpsing just the same， even after he culd n lnger hear what he had written.
Anther great and unusual German musician named Wagner lived until 1883. Thugh he practiced all his life， he never culd play very well. But he cmpsed wnderfulperas， and he wrte ntnly the music but the wrds， t. He tkld Germanic myths and fairy tales and made them int plays t be sung t music. At first sme peple made funf his music， fr it seemed t them s nisy and "slam-bangy" and withut tune. Nw peple make funf thse peple wh dn"t like it！
I have tld yu inther placesf painters and pets，r architects and wise men，f kings and heres，f wars and trubles. I have put this stryf musicf all ages inne chapter， which I have tucked in here between the acts， t give yu a rest fr a mment frm wars and rumrsf wars.
When I was a by I never heard any great musicians play. Nw yu and I can turnn the recrd， tape，r CD player anytime and hear the musicf Palestrinar Mzart，f Beethvenr Wagner，f dzensfther masters， playedr sung t us whenever we wish. N caliph in the Arabian Nights culd cmmand such service fr his pleasure！
【中文阅读】
青蛙呱呱。 猫儿喵喵。 狗儿汪汪。 羊儿咩咩。 母牛哞哞。 狮子吼。
鬣狗嚎。 唯有鸟儿和人把歌唱。 鸟儿做不到的人做到。
他们还利用万物把乐奏，真奇妙。
你曾经用雪茄盒子做小提琴或者用大头钉弹钢琴或者用玻璃杯演奏音乐吗？ 在很久以前的神话故事时代，阿波罗取了一对牛角，在牛角之间系上七根用牛皮做成的弦。这个乐器叫做"里拉琴"。他用手指或羽毛管拨弄这些琴弦，发出一 点叮当响声，声音算不上美妙。不过据说阿波罗的儿子奥菲士从父亲那里学会了弹 奏里拉琴，他演奏的音乐优美动听，连各种鸟兽木石都围绕着他，聚在一起倾听他 弹奏。
潘神，森林之神，长着山羊的角、耳朵和腿脚，把几根长短不同的笛子拴在一 起，用这吹奏出曲子，就像你吹口琴那样。这种乐器被称为"排箫"。
里拉琴和排箫是最早的两种乐器。前一种是弦乐器，后一种是管乐器。长弦和 长管发音低沉，短弦和短管音调高亢。
从阿波罗的里拉琴演变成我们今天有许许多多琴弦的钢琴。你看到过钢琴的内 部，见到过许多长短不同的琴弦吗？不过，它们不是像里拉琴或竖琴的琴弦那样被 拨弄，而是当你按下琴键时，毛毡覆盖的小木槌敲击它们发出声音。
从潘神的排箫演变成我们今天大型的教堂管风琴，这种管风琴有着形似巨大哨 子的音管。很显然，你无法像吹哨子那样用嘴吹这些音管。这些音管大到你只得用 机器向管内鼓风来演奏。
我们知道古时候的乐器像什么样儿，但是我们不知道那时人们创作的音乐听起 来到底像什么；那时没有留声机录音或磁带把声音录下来，就好像可以装在瓶子里， 等千年以后拔去瓶塞，再一次把古老的音符倒出来。过去的音乐可惜不能贮藏，飘 散到稀薄的空中，永远消失了。
直到公元 1000 年左右，音乐才能够用笔记下来。之前，所有的音乐都"凭听觉 记忆"演奏，因为当时没有乐谱。一位名叫盖伊或者在意大利语中名叫圭多的本笃 会修士，想了一个记录音符的方法，他把这些音符命名为哆、来、咪、发等。"哆、 来、咪、发……"是一首献给圣约翰的赞美诗的歌词的开始部分的字母，修士们由 低到高咏唱这些字母。
另一个意大利人有时被称为"现代音乐之父"。他名叫帕莱斯特里纳，死于 1549 年。他为教堂礼拜仪式配乐，教皇命令所有的教堂都要效仿他的配乐，但是人们却 不大喜欢他的音乐；换句话说，按我们现在的说法，它不怎么"流行"。
直到百年后--也就是说，大约公元 1700 年--第一个伟大的欧洲音乐家才出 现，他写出了真正流行的音乐，受到欧洲人和美国人的喜爱，就是在今天依然很受 欢迎。
他是个德国人，叫韩德尔。他的父亲是理发师，还兼给人看牙、治病，他希望 自己的儿子将来做个大律师。但是这个男孩唯一喜爱的是音乐。
那时还没有钢琴。有一种靠敲击琴键来演奏的小型弦乐器，叫做"击弦键琴"。 有的击弦键琴像桌子那样有腿。有的没有腿，就放在桌上。
韩德尔，尽管只有 6 岁，却得到一个这样的乐器，他将乐器放在房屋阁楼上自 己的房间里，不让任何人发现。晚上每个人都睡觉以后，他就在这架击弦键琴上练 习直到深夜，这时别人都以为他早入睡了。一天夜里他的家人听到楼上屋顶下有声 音。他们感到纳闷，不知道那是什么，就提着一盏灯，悄悄爬上阁楼楼梯，他们突 然打开门，只见穿着睡衣的小韩德尔坐在椅子上，脚还够不到地板呢，正在弹着击 弦键琴。
从那以后，韩德尔的父亲意识到想要让儿子成为律师不行了。他为韩德尔请来 老师，不久这个男孩的音乐演奏就震惊了世界。他后来去了英国，定居在那里，成 了英国人，他去世后，英国人把他葬在了威斯敏斯特教堂，这座教堂是英国著名人 物的下葬之地。
韩德尔为圣经部分内容谱曲。这些曲子配上圣经里的词由众人齐唱，这种表演 叫做"清唱剧"，其中一出名为"弥赛"的清唱剧在圣诞节期间几乎到处都在演唱。 除了宗教音乐之外，韩德尔还写了四十六部歌剧！
与韩德尔同一时期，还有一位德国音乐家名叫巴赫。巴赫演奏管风琴绝妙非凡， 就像韩德尔演奏击弦键琴一样，而且谱写了一些迄今为止最优美的管风琴乐曲。奇 怪的是，韩德尔和巴赫到了晚年双目都失明了，但是对他们来说，最重要的是听觉 而不是视力。你认为哪一个"更重要"呢？
几乎所有的音乐天才在幼年时期就是音乐神童了。甚至在他们学会读书写字之 前，就已经成为伟大的音乐家了。
有一位这样的音乐天才就在巴赫和韩德尔去世之前诞生了。他是奥地利人，名 叫莫扎特。
莫扎特，才 4 岁时钢琴就弹得极好。他也作曲--现在叫做谱曲--供他人 演奏。
莫扎特的父亲和姐姐都是优秀的钢琴家，所以他们三个人举办了一次巡回音乐 会。神童莫扎特在女皇面前演奏，无论他到哪里都受到王子般的款待，人们宠爱他、 赞扬他，为他举办宴会，还给他很多礼物。
自从他成年结婚后，为了谋生，一直过着最艰难的日子。他创作各种类型的音 乐，包括被称为"歌剧"的音乐剧和"交响乐"。交响曲是专门为整个管弦乐队演奏 而谱写的；但是他挣的钱还是太少，去世时他不得不和穷人埋在一起，那些穷人都 太穷了，没有属于自己的墓地。后来人们认为这样一位伟大的作曲家竟然在自己的 坟墓前没有墓碑真是太不像话了，但是此时去找他的埋葬地点，已经太晚了。人们 为他立了一座纪念碑，但是直到今天也没有人知道莫扎特的遗骨在哪里。
一个名叫贝多芬的德国人读过了神童莫扎特的故事，觉得也想要生一个神童， 能在国王和王后面前演奏。当他儿子只有 5 岁的时候，他让孩子长时间地练习弹钢 琴直到孩子累得眼泪顺着脸颊流下来。但是路德维格 贝多芬，这是孩子的名字，最 终成了有史以来最伟大的音乐家之一。他能够坐在钢琴前，一边弹奏一边创作出最美妙的音乐--这叫做"即兴创作"--但是乐曲被记录下来之后他却从未满意过。 他总是一遍又一遍地修改、重写，直到满意为止。一首乐曲经常要修改十几遍。
但是贝多芬的听觉开始渐渐不灵了。他很担心会完全丧失听力--发生在任何 人身上都是一件可怕的事情，但是对于一个听力就是他的命运的人来说，再没有比 这更糟糕的了。最后他完全失聪。丧失听力让贝多芬悲伤绝望、脾气暴躁，动不动 就发火。然而，他没有放弃依然坚持作曲，尽管他再也听不到自己创作的乐曲了！
还有一位伟大的、与众不同的德国音乐家叫瓦格纳，他死于 1883 年。尽管他一 生都在练习演奏，但是他始终不能演奏得很好。可是他创作了令人惊叹的歌剧，另 外他不仅作曲还作词。他以古老的日耳曼民族的神话和童话故事为蓝本，创作出歌 剧。起初有些人取笑他，因为他们觉得他的音乐似乎很喧闹，乱哄哄的，没有曲调。 而如今人们却反过来取笑那些不喜欢它的人了！
我在前面的章节介绍过画家和诗人，或建筑师和智者，还讲过国王和英雄，以 及战争和灾难。我现在把各个时代的音乐故事放在一章里，夹在历史故事中，好让 你从战争和战争的传闻中走出来休息一会儿。
我小时候，从未听过哪个大音乐家的演奏。现在每当我们想听音乐，你和我就 可以随时打开唱机、录音机，或者光盘播放机，聆听音乐家演奏或演唱，聆听帕莱 斯特里纳或莫扎特的音乐、贝多芬或瓦格纳的音乐，以及其他许多大师的音乐。就 连《一千零一夜》里面的哈里发也无法要求别人向他提供这样的享受！