Page:De Amicis - Heart, translation Hapgood, 1922.djvu/187

Rh them, they go to him; if two friends fall out, it is he who reconciles them. The smallest pupils, whom he teaches to play, regard him as a father. Then all go to bid him good night before retiring to bed. And they talk constantly of music. They are finally in bed, late at night, wearied by study and work, and half asleep, and still they are discussing, in a low tone, operas, masters, instruments, and orchestras. It is so great a punishment for them to be deprived of the reading, or lesson in music, it causes them such sorrow that one hardly ever has the courage to punish them in that way. What light is to our eyes, music is to their hearts.

Derossi asked if we could go to see them.

“Yes,” replied the teacher; “but you must not go there now. You shall go later on, when you are in a condition to appreciate the whole extent of this misfortune, and to feel all the compassion which it merits. It is a sad sight, my boys. You will sometimes see there boys seated in front of an open window, enjoying the fresh air, with immovable countenances, which seem to be gazing at the wide green expanse and the beautiful blue mountains your own eyes can see. But when you remember that they see nothing—that they will never see anything—of that vast loveliness, your soul is oppressed, as though you had yourselves become blind at that moment.

“And then there are those who were born blind, who, as they have never seen the world, do not complain, because they do not possess the image of anything, and who, therefore, arouse less sympathy. But there are lads who have been blind but a few months,