2j6 Language Through Nature 



the poor fishes were having a sad time. They 

 could not leave the water to go to the Hill of 

 Taara, but they stretched their heads out of the 

 brooks and rivers to their very eyes, yet kept their 

 ears under. So they saw Vanemuine, the song-god, 

 move his lips, but heard nothing, and they did 

 as he did and made no sound. To this day the 

 poor, dumb fishes move their lips, but speak no 

 language. 



Only the men and women who stood close 

 around the Hill of Taara understood everything 

 that was sung. That is why human voices more 

 than any others can thrill us and make us see the 

 beautiful and true. 



Vanemuine sang of the glory of heaven and of 

 the beauty of earth. He sang of the flowing waters 

 and of the rustling leaves. He sang of the joys 

 and the sorrows that come to all people, to children 

 and parents, to the rich and to the poor. If we 

 listen to the songs sung to-day, with open ears and 

 expectant hearts, we may hear all that Vanemuine 

 sang so long ago upon the Hill of Taara. 



WhenVanemuine's songs had been heard by all 

 the world, he rose on the wings of the winds and 

 went far into cloudland to his golden palace in the 



