Upon This Was Stretched A Solitary String,
And The Bow Was Very Short And Much Bent.
This was an Abyssinian
Paganini.
He was a professional minstrel of the highest grade, who had
been sent by Mek Nimmur to welcome us on our arrival.
These musicians are very similar to the minstrels of ancient times. They
attend at public rejoicings, and at births, deaths, and marriages of
great personages, upon which occasions they extemporize their songs
according to circumstances. My hunting in the Base country formed his
theme, and for at least an hour he sang of my deeds in an extremely loud
and disagreeable voice, while he accompanied himself upon his fiddle,
which he held downward like a violoncello. During the whole of his song
he continued in movement, marching with a sliding step to the front, and
gliding to the right and left in a manner that, though intended to be
graceful, was extremely comic. The substance of this minstrelsy was
explained to me by Taher Noor, who listened eagerly to the words, which
he translated with evident satisfaction. Of course, like all minstrels,
he was an absurd flatterer, and, having gathered a few facts for his
theme, he wandered slightly from the truth in his poetical description
of my deeds.
He sang of me as though I had been Richard Coeur de Lion, and recounted,
before an admiring throng of listeners, how I had wandered with a young
wife from my own distant country to fight the terrible Base; how I had
slain them in a single combat, and bow elephants and lions were struck
down like lambs and kids by my hands. That during my absence in the hunt
my wife had been carried off by the Base; that I had, on my return to my
pillaged camp, galloped off in chase, and, overtaking the enemy,
hundreds had fallen by my rifle and sword, and I had liberated and
recovered the lady, who now had arrived safe with her lord in the
country of the great Mek Nimmur, etc., etc.
This was all very pretty, no doubt, and as true as most poetical and
musical descriptions; but I felt certain that there must be something to
pay for this flattering entertainment. If you are considered to be a
great man, a PRESENT is invariably expected in proportion to your
importance. I suggested to Taher Noor that I must give him a couple of
dollars. "What!" said Taher Noor, "a couple of dollars? Impossible! a
musician of his standing is accustomed to receive thirty and forty
dollars from great people for so beautiful and honorable a song."
This was somewhat startling. I began to reflect upon the price of a box
at Her Majesty's Theatre in London; but there I was not the hero of the
opera. This minstrel combined the whole affair in a most simple manner.
He was Verdi, Costa, and orchestra all in one. He was a thorough
Macaulay as historian, therefore I had to pay the composer as well as
the fiddler.
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