134 THE HUMAN SIDE OF TREES 



oughly appreciate all the good things he can hear. 



Every day in every forest a free concert is in 

 progress. There are no chairs and no programmes 

 (and unfortunately often no audience), but music 

 of a divine order is in the air. The repertoire 

 ranges all the way from the crescendos of the tem- 

 pest to the lento sostenutos of a summer's after- 

 noon. Overtures, anthems, masses and requiems 

 all have their turn. Every twig and leaf rustles 

 a glad accompaniment. 



The running brook sings in all voices from a 

 piping treble to a tolerably deep bass. The rain 

 pelts melodiously on the dry leaves. Insects, birds 

 and animals make their harmonious contributions. 

 The wind and the trees play an entire symphony 

 by themselves. 



But it is the musical efforts of the trees in which 

 we are most interested. Very few of them are self- 

 playing. They are mostly docile instruments in 

 the powerful hands of the wind-god. Each has its 

 range and its tone. The musical possibilities of 

 each vary with the seasons. Ordinarily, the music 

 of the trees is soft and caressing, but there are times 

 when they are called upon to wrestle with the 

 tempest. Under the cruel lashings of an aroused 

 element, their song rises into an inferno of wail- 

 ing. Nothing strikes terror to human hearts 



