The violin and the nightingale

A Tribute to Pello Zabala (… ……+ in Arantzazu on Feb 2nd, 2022)

“Once upon a time a violin heard a nightingale sing. The small bird produced registers the violin had never heard before: gurgles, trills, high-pitched and happy gurgles.

The violin was envious and wanted to sing like the nightingale; realizing that it could not imitate the bird, the violin asked: “You, what are you made of?” The small bird answered: “And you?”.

Having played in front of kings worked by the most virtuous hands of that time, the violin, upset by the insolence of the nightingale, answered: “I am made of the finest German beechwood, my strings are well tempered, I have sixty-nine pieces, and there is no money to pay for the bow that makes my notes bright and of the highest tonal quality”.

The nightingale continued singing. It was a sunny day and it wanted to show the spring wind that in a corner of the forest, among heathers and rockroses, one can listen to the best concert.

The violin insisted: “But, what are you made of?”. Then, the nightingale answered: “My soul is made of music”. And it flew away….”

(Ignacio Núñez de Castro)

Translated by Mertxe de Renobales Scheifler