OUR LITTLE FOLKS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1966, 29 October 1891, Page 41

OUR LITTLE FOLKS.

Bt Do*. MwlW yt««nt fc> iwOft rtwrt Ww IHn ]»TealU mmO«Bi«ata <j» nj Hitter* of ia toot to tfcMUttot-ibort (tori« •Tpet »nlrauli, tttoiftiMu «f lk«ir ftvoartt* toys, tkefar pwtiM, WBaiemeata, *». I%a itmm* to %* written by tfc* afclMna OkmMlruudi«i«Nl "mt,mn it the idlUr," M 4 to k» m». FABLE. The mountain and the squirrel Hbd a quarrel, , And the former oalled the latter " Little Frig ; " Bun replied, 41 You are doubtleti very W«; But all iorti of thing* and weather Mutt be taken in together, To make up a year And a ipherft. And I think it no dltgraoe To occupy my place. If I'm not so large ai you, You are not id small as I, And not half so spryI'll not deny you make A very pretty tqdtrreT track ; Talents differ ; all 1b well and wisely put ; If I cannot carry lotettn on my back, Neither oan you oracle a nut." — Bmibsoh. A LITTLE ORGANIST. A boy, only six years old, was Bailing with his father down ((he Danube. AIJ day long they had been 'sailing pjpt; ..crumbling ruins, crags, towering cliffs, quiet villages nlatled in f sunny valleys, and here and thereto deep 1 gorge that opened Jbabk from the gliding river, its' hollow distance blue with fathomless shadow; and ' its loneliness and stillness stirring the boy's heart like some dim and vast cathedral, They Btopped at night, at a cloister,. and the father took little Wolfgang into the ohapel to see the organ. It was the 'first large organ he had ever seen ; and his face lit up with delight, and every motion and attitude of his figure expressed a wondering reverence. "Father," said the boy, "lefc me playl" Well pleased, the father complied, Then Wolfgang pushed aside the Btool, and when his father had filled the great bellows, the elfin organist stood upon the pedals. How the deep tones < woke the sombre stillness of the old church* The organ seemed some great uncouth creature, roaring for very joy at the caresses of the marvellous child. The monks, eating their supper in the refeotory, heard it, and dropped; knife and fork in astonishment. The organist of the brotherhood was among them; but never tiad he played with suob power. They listened; some crossed themselves, till the prior rose up and hastened, into the ohapel. The others followed; but when they looked into the organ loft, lo ! there was no, organist to be seen, though the deep tones still massed themselves in new harmonies, and made the stone arohea thrill with their power. "It is the evil one," cried one of the monks, drawing closer to his companions, and giving a Beared look over his shoulder at the darkness of the aisle. "Itis a miracle," said another. But when . the boldest of them mounted the stairs to the organ loft he stood as if petrified with amaeement.. There was the tiny figure, treading from pedal to pedal, and at the same time clutching at the keys above with his little bands, gathering bandfuls of those wonderful chords as if they were violets, and flinging them out into the solemn gloom behind him. He beard nothing, saw nothing besides ; bia eyes beamed, and his whole faoe lighted up with impassioned joyl Louder and fuller rose the harmonies^ streaming forth in swelling billowß, till at but' they seemed to reach a sunny shore, on which 4hey broke; and then a whispering ripple of faintest melody lingered a moment in the air, like the last murmur of the wind-harp, and all was still. The boy was John Wolfgang Mozart.