As a result of this Thyrsis paid all his bank-account for a violin, and went to see a teacher.
“You are too old,” the teacher said.
But Thyrsis answered, “I will workas no one ever worked before.”
“We all do that,” replied the other, with a smile. And so they began.
And so all day long, with fingers raw, and arms and back shuddering with exhaustion, Thyrsis sat and practiced, the spirit of Music beckoning him on. It was in a boarding-house, and there was a nervous old man in the next room, and in the end Thyrsis had to move. By the time he went away to the country, he was able to play a melody in tune; and then he would take some one that had fascinated him, and practice it and practice it night and day. He would take his fiddle every morning at eight and stride out into the forest, an
