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MacDonald, George, 1824-1905

"Malcolm"

"
"But I never saw ane o' them either. It's ill makin' things
a'thegither oot o' yer ain heid."
"Well, it's played with the fingers--like this," said Florimel.
"And the fugue is a kind of piece where one part pursues the other,
--"
"An' syne," cried Malcolm eagerly, "that ane turns roon' an' rins
efter the first;--that 'll be 'fled and pursued transverse.'
I hae't! I hae't! See, my leddy, what it is to hae sic schoolin',
wi' music an' a'! The proportions--that's the relation o' the
notes to ane anither; an' fugue--that comes frae fugere to flee
--'fled and pursued transverse the resonant fugue '--the tane
rinnin' efter the tither, roon' an' roon'. Ay, I hae't noo!--
Resonant--that's echoing or resounding. But what's instinct my
leddy? It maun be an adjective, I'm thinkin'."
Although the modesty of Malcolm had led him to conclude the girl
immeasurably his superior in learning because she could tell him
what a fugue was, he soon found she could help him no further, for
she understood scarcely anything about grammar, and her vocabulary
was limited enough. Not a doubt interfered, however, with her
acceptance of the imputed superiority; for it is as easy for some
to assume as it is for others to yield.
"I hae't! It is an adjective," cried Malcolm, after a short pause
of thought. "It's the touch that's instinct. But I fancy there sud
be a comma efter instinct.--His fingers were sae used till 't
that they could 'maist do the thing o' themsel's--Isna 't lucky,
my leddy, that I thocht o' sayin' 't ower to you! I'll read the buik
frae the beginnin',--it's the neist to the last, I think,--jist
to come upo' the twa lines i' their ain place, ohn their expeckin'
me like, an' see hoo gran' they soon' whan a body unnerstan's them.


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