sang in a curious broken patois, while his delighted teacher accompanied him on the violin. But it was a great day when he was eight years old, and Jacques brought out a small fiddle, for which he had secretly sent to Albany, and presented it to the boy.
“You see dat feedle, Billee? Dat’s for you! You mek’ your lesson on dat. When you kin mek’ de museek, den you play on de violon—lak’ dis one—listen!”
Then he drew the bow across the strings and dashed into a medley of the jolliest airs imaginable.
The boy took to his instruction as kindly as could have been expected. School interrupted it a good deal; and play with the other boys carried him away often; but, after all, there was nothing that he liked much better than to sit in the little cabin on a winter evening and pick out a simple tune after his teacher. He must have had some talent for it, too; for Jacques was very proud of his pupil, and prophesied great things of him.
“You know dat little Billee of ‘Ose Ransom,” the fiddler would say to a circle of people at the hotel, where he still went to play for parties; “you know dat small Ransom boy? Well, I ‘m tichin’ heem play de feedle; an’ I tell you, one day he play better dan hees ticher. Ah, dat ‘s gr-r-reat t’ing, de museek, ain’t it? Mek’ you laugh, mek’ you cry, mek’ you dance! Now, you dance. Tek’ your pardnerre. EN AVANT! Kip’ step to de museek!”
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.
