It is approaching late autumn, the liquid amber & Chinese pistache start dropping their leaves and the yards & streets are turning to gold & red in color. It is the time of year again people prepare for Thanksgiving holidays & find time for meditation. I found one thing unusual this year. Several mockingbirds are still around & sing various calls in the early morning. They sound like a bunch of mischievous & naughty boys who chatter & make fun. They are especially vocal in the early morning & late afternoon. In the neighborhood, other notable birds are robins, ravens & blue jays. The robins always feed on the yard in pair. They have orange chest & are easily identified. Sometime you pass by them, they sort of freeze & pretend they are not birds at all. The ravens basically are crows, noisy & aggressive. They are big birds & are not welcomed most of the time. Blue jays are vivid blue in color & can be very noisy. They sound like calling 賊 in the daytime. Perhaps this is the reason why they are called Jay (jay & 賊 同音, just for fun). When the autumn is fast passing by, most birds sort of fade away by migration. Except those mockingbirds, they seem still happy to hang around here. One morning I found young one tangled with the golf net & couldn’t get out of it. Its mother & father hovered around to call each other for help. After a few minutes, they were not successful freeing it. I tried to be helpful. I untangled the little bird & found that this little bird had a hard time to fly. So I put it in an open box with some water. There was nothing I can do except sitting nearby to see what is going on. This was the day I heard more mockingbird calls than any other days in my life. Lunchtime was coming & I had to leave. I let the evolution ran its course. Miraculously, they all disappeared after I finished the lunch. For some reason, I felt very happy for the rest of the day. I even tried to whistle like a mockingbird. Perhaps this is the adage: 日行一善 or 助人(鳥)為快樂之本.
When it comes to 助人為快樂之本, it reminds me of 青年守則. We all remember that we had to recite or sing the song 青年守則 every morning while we were in elementary school. I didn’t like to memorize it & was not particularily impressed by it. However, when I get older, I really appreciate #10, 助人為快樂之本 & #12, 有恒為成功之本. In the past few years, I especially valued #4, 信義為立業之本 & #5, 和平為處世之本. If most countries in the world follow #5, there will be few wars on earth. If most people in Wall Street (including CEOs & MBAs) follow #4, there will be no Charles Ponzi, Enron, Bernard Madoff & all the financial mess in this country. The next two items I like are #11, 學問為濟世之本 & #9, 整潔為強身之本.
While we are talking about birds, do you still remember a good old radio program in 1960's, 早晨的公園? This program was anchored by 潘啟元. If you tuned to this program, you would hear all sort of birds singing different tunes. When you had to get up early & head to school, you wouldn’t appreciate it. I visited Taipei once in 1975. I got wakened up by this program & I didn’t have to go to school. I felt so relaxed & really appreciated those birds that make the world a nice place to live.
The last thing about mockingbird is that famous book “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Most of us have watched this movie in Taiwan with title "梅崗城的故事" as the story occurred in a town called Maycomb. It is story about a lawyer Atticus Finch (finch is also a bird) defended a black man in the case of raping a white woman. Why is the book called “To Kill a Mockingbird”? Here is the quote from some source: 'when Atticus, having given his children air-rifles for Christmas, allows their Uncle Jack to teach them to shoot. Atticus warns them that, although they can "shoot all the bluejays they want", they must remember that "it's a sin to kill a mockingbird”. Confused, Scout (the girl who narrated the story) approaches her neighbor Miss Maudie, who explains that mockingbirds never harm other living creatures. She points out that mockingbirds simply provide pleasure with their songs, saying, "They don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. "To kill a mockingbird" is to kill that which is innocent and harmless—like Tom Robinson (the black man).'
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There are songs & music pieces that animate the call of birds. I found one that is closest to the mockingbird. It is in William Tell Overture by Rossini. The overture has four parts: Prelude or Morning (清晨), Storm (暴風雨), Ranz des Vaches (牧歌 or 寂靜)) and Finale or Revolution (革命). It is in the 3rd part that two solo instruments, English Horn & Flute, play the themes complement each other that creates one of the most beautiful scene you can imagine. William Tell was the Swiss hero we are all familiar with. So the scene is in Swiss Alps. If you have visited Switzerland before, you know the green mountain hills & cows grazing on the field with bells hang around their necks. Usually it creates a very serene & peaceful surrounding. In the link below we will have a general idea about the setting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8rknoCtnf8&feature=related
In the next link we will hear the performance of Berlin Philharmonic on this music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83H8sXt_p_s
Start from the beginning, we notice that all members of the orchestra are at rest except the solo of English horn (0-0:15). Then it follows with the flute to play the same tune (-0:30). The tune sets up the scene like 樓前芳草接天涯. The English horn leads again with a similar tune with higher pitch (-0:45) follows with the flute once more (1:00). This sets up the scene like 樓上晴天碧四垂. The English horn pictures the near view & the flute for the distant view with cows grazing in groups. Then the cows are called to return to the pen for the day (-1:07). While they are slowly walking toward the pen, we hear the birds flying around, singing songs, & going with the cows (-1:19). This scene lasts till 1:39. Now the picture gets nearer & we see the birds clearly & they do sing the songs earnestly & happily. From here to 2:02, we continue to hear the birds calling each other with English horn (cows) in the background. During all this time, orchestra does nothing except the strings plucking. From here to 2:20, we can really appreciate the flute playing like the calls of mockingbird. We not only hear the song but also feel the flapping of their wings, very picturesque. Now (-2:30) most of the cows are in the pen & the birds are all happy in accompanying them & ready to leave. Now it is the time for revolution, charge! (from 2:31-end). If you like movie, this is the time for Lone Ranger (獨行俠). For nostalgic purpose, we may say this is the time for news from 台灣廣播電台. You might still remember 潘啟元, 丁秉燧, 白茜如, 王玫 , 崔小萍 et al.
PS: Conductor was the famous Claudio Abbado, in 1996. He is getting very old lately.
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