It is a natural
gift, music is their life. There are few places in the civilized world
that have not produced singers of repute. Yet we have two nations that
we never expect to hear from in this respect, for it is a known fact
that the Japanese and Chinese are wholly unmusical. Five discordant
tones compose their scale, unmusical and untrue chords, or, one might
say, discord.
Knowing this, imagine my surprise when in January 1897, I received a
call from several women of the Chinese mission. With Miss Mabel Hussy
I had assisted in giving the Chinese pupils of the Presbyterian
mission Sunday school an entertainment on New Year's eve. I sang them
a Christmas story of Robin's return, descriptive of the coming home of
the sailor boy, with the picture of an open fireplace, the singing of
the children's carols, the wreaths of holly, the grandmother at the
spinning wheel, the mother tearfully placing the evergreens on the
wall and pictures, thinking all the while of her boy. At last the
Christmas bells chimed the midnight hour to be followed with the
raising of the latch and the happy return of the long expected son
with the snow upon his hair. All this was listened to with rapt
surprise as I carefully articulated the words so nothing of the story
be lost. I accurately scanned the faces as I sang and I saw I had
opened a new world to them. At the close of the number I was roundly
applauded by these 50 old and young Chinese students, who, well
groomed and in their best suits, sat prim and proper.
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