Story time

A story today that I read. I thought it was very good. And will share it with you.

THE LEGEND OF THE IRISH HARP

One misty day, a young woman with black hair and the bluest of eyes was walking along the beach. She was idly collecting pretty pebbles and shells. The mists moved in and out from the water as she strolled, softly singing romantic songs to herself. She thought of her handsome husband as she sang.
She had just walked up to a patch of reeds when she heard music sweeter than anything she had ever heard in her life. She pushed past the reeds and there found the skeleton of a whale. The sweet music she was hearing was coming from the skeleton.
As she came along the side of the whale, she discovered that the music was caused by the wind singing ever so sweetly through the bones of the whale. The music was hypnotizing, and before the girl knew it she slumped to the ground and was lulled to sleep.
Her husband came home from his work in the fields expecting to find his young wife in their cozy kitchen brewing him a pot of tea. They enjoyed sharing a quiet cup of tea together at this time of day and telling each other the events of the day.
Time passed and his wife didn't appear, so the man went out to search for her. He started along the beach, because he knew she enjoyed walking there. She must have had such a pleasing walk that she had forgotten how late it was.
He saw her prints in the sand leading out toward the bay and followed them. He heard some unearthly music as he came near a patch of reeds. On the other side of the reeds, he found his dear wife peacefully sleeping besides the skeleton of a whale. He too saw that the enchanting music came from the wind on the whale bones.
The husband gently woke his wife up and together they reveled in the music. When the wind stopped blowing, the music stopped, but not before the husband had observed the principle behind the music.
Back at home he secretly made a harp to imitate those sounds they had heard. When it was finished, he presented it to his wife with a flourish and a love song he sang and played for her. And that is how the first Irish harp came to be.


Is not this so sweet? All I can imagine is the sound of the wind blowing through the whale bones. What music! When I had read the story the first time I was at work and Junnel started talking to me. I did not hear him even when he was about two feet away calling my name repeatedly. I was so mesmerized by the story, all I could envision were the calls and voices of whales in my head. I pluck the strings of my own harp to see if I can picture whale voices through the vibrating strings. And perhaps I should bring the harp to the ocean to see if I can call the whales in! But I have heard the wind go through the harp causing vibrations of the strings. It is a beautiful sound and a bit unearthly.

**Source of story: Livo, Norma J. 1996. Troubadour's Storybag: Musical Folktales of the World. Fulcrum Publishing: Golden, Colorado.