A PANDEAN IDYLL

A PANDEAN IDYLL

Once upon a time there were five reeds who clustered together by the river bank. They went by the names of A, B, C, D, and E. Now A, C, and E were natural enough but D was rather sharp and B was absolutely flat. But this was because of their varying stature. Except for this they seemed to agree in all other respects and always acted in unison. The sun shone on them equally and the wind made them bend together. Theirs was a life gracefully led down by the banks of the river.

Then one day came the great god Pan prancing along by the banks of the river and in his hand he held a contrivance of pipes that he had lately fashioned. He blew on one of the pipes and emitted a mellow tone. A began to vibrate with sudden interest, "How pleasant," he said "How lovely." Then Pan tried another pipe and sounded it. C came to life with enthusiasm exclaiming, "How bright, how enchanting." Pan proceeded to intone on yet a third pipe and E awoke with vigor, "How crisp, how smart," said he. When Pan produced all three tones simultaneously, what joy A, C and E knew. Together they cried, "How grand, how wonderful." But all the time that this was going on, sharp D and flat B sat glumly by, looking on. They agreed that they could not understand what all the excitement was about. Evidently A, C and E were suffering from delusions. Just then Pan sounded two other pipes at once. The effect was immediate: B and D stiffened and started accusing each other of aggression for each seemed to have cramped the other's style, while A, C and E cringed with pain. They all fell to quarreling in the end and their cries were long bitter and sad.

Though Pan went away In his nonchalant way His marker he left O! for ever to stay And the reeds by the river Will never, no, never O! ever be happy and gay.