c and musical instruments in general and the fiddle in particular.
He gave me to understand that the fiddle was the best and most beautiful
of all instruments. There was none older and none more wonderful in the
world than the fiddle. To prove this to me, he went on to tell me that
the fiddle was always the leading instrument of any orchestra, and not
the trumpet or the flute. And this was simply because the fiddle was the
mother of all musical instruments.

And so it came about that Naphtali "_Bezborodka_" gave me a whole
lecture on music. Whilst he was speaking he gesticulated with his hands
and moved his nose, and I stood staring right into his mouth. I looked
at his black teeth and swallowed, yes, positively swallowed, every word
that he said.

"The fiddle, you must understand," went on Naphtali "_Bezborodka_" to
me, and evidently satisfied with the lecture he was giving me, "the
fiddle, you must understand, is an instrument that is older than all
other instruments. The first man in the world to play on the fiddle was
Jubal-Cain, or Methuselah, I don't exactly remember which. You will know
that better than I, for, to be sure, you are learning Bible history at
school. The second fiddler in the world was King David. Another great
fiddler--the third greatest in the world--was Paganini. He also was a
Jew. All the best fiddlers in the world were Jews. For instance there
was '_Stempenyu_,' and there was '_Pedotchur_.' Of myself I say nothing.
People tell me that I do not play the fiddle badly. But how can I come
up to Paganini? They say that Paganini sold his soul to the Ashmodai for
a fiddle. Paganini hated to play before great people like kings and
popes, although they covered him with gold. He would much rather play at
wayside inns for poor folks, or in villages. Or else he would play in
the forest for wild beasts and fowls of the air. What a fiddler Paganini
was!...

"Eh, boys, to your places! To your instruments!"

That was the order which Naphtali "_Bezborodka_" gave to his regiment of
children, all of whom came together in one minute. Each one took up an
instrument. Naphtali himself stood up, beat his baton on the table,
threw a sharp glance on every separate child and on all at once; and
they began to play a concert on every sort of instrument with so much
force that I was almost knocked off my feet. Each child tried to make
more noise than the other. But above all, I was nearly deafened by the
noise that one