The Testimony of Taliesin Jones (19 page)

H
is
mu
sic
b
ook
i
s s
till
o
pen
a
t
t
he piece he ha
sn't
pr
actised. '
A
Da
ncing B
ear' s
its th
ere o
n th
e s
tand looking difficult and u
nplayable.
H
e
m
ust
pr
actise
it
i
n time f
o
r
Saturday wh
en
h
e w
ill
wa
lk
to a
bun
galow t
he
o
ther
si
de of th
e
v
illage a
nd
s
it
for a
n h
our wi
th B
illy Eva
ns, h
is
pi
ano
teach
er.
He
'll
pl
ay
th
e
pi
ece
t
hrough (
by
ear)
pr
etending
t
o
sight r
ead
-som
ething
h
e
h
as s
uccessfully d
one
f
or
si
x
months
,
con
cealing
h
is
mu
sica
l d
yslexia
b
y ge
tting Bill
y
to pl
ay
it throu
gh
and tr
ying
t
o
m
emorize
th
e
p
iece.
H
is
t
alent
wa
s
promisin
g e
nough to b
e e
ncouraged
,
but it
's
in
sufficient
to breeze thin
gs
with
out effo
rt. H
is ea
r, h
e is
t
old,
i
s goo
d, but hi
s e
ye
a
nd th
e
m
echani
sm
t
hat t
ransforms
th
e
n
otes
on th
e
p
age
t
o
th
e
m
ovem
e
nt of t
he
fi
ngers
at
th
e
r
ight s
peed and pr
essure
i
sn't.
Unli
ke
th
e wor
ds in
a
book
,
n
otes
don
't
tran
slate
qui
ckly a
nd cl
early
in h
is
h
ead a
nd h
e
su
spects
that his t
eacher a
lready
k
now
s
th
is a
nd
is s
imply t
oo
k
ind
to
e
xpose th
e fac
t.

Taliesin
started his piano lessons when his mother's hair was still getting fresh
attention and his father's plans were ge
tting f
ancy
.
Pi
ano
w
asn't so
mething h
e
c
hose t
o do
.
Hi
s ~
10 the r w
anted
o
ne of h
er c
hildren
t
o
pl
ay t
he
p
iano and
J
onathan's ea
rly
s
porting pr
owess
ens
ured th
at it wa
s
Ta
liesin
w
ho
h
ad
to b
e
musical.
H
e ag
reed t
o
d
o
i
t beca
us
e
he i
m
agi
ned him
self
pla
ying
tun
es as easi
ly
as
h
e co
uld pl
ay
th
em
in hi
s
h
ead.
H
e
h
adn't
anti
cipated
th
e s
c
ience
o
f
i
t
.

Thin
gs
b
egan
well
.
Hi
s
l
earning curve rose s
harply
a
nd qui
ckly a
nd th
e e
arly
s
uccess
gave
him
a
n
e
nthusiastic m
omentum,
w
hich for a tim
e ove
rcame
t
he
f
undamental pr
oblem
.
Th
en
th
e
cur
ve
p
eaked
int
o a
fl
at s
traight l
ine w
hen h
e
r
ealized
th
at
he couldn
't
r
ead
th
e
n
otes.
H
is
m
other was
n
'
t
a
round t
o g
ive him a h
and.
B
efore s
he
l
eft,
s
h
e
fo
und hi
m a
t
eacher i
n th
e v
illage
.
T
aliesin was his on
ly
pup
il. Were i
t
n
ot
f
or
B
illy
h
e
w
ould
h
ave s
topped h
aving
th
e
l
essons a
ltogether.
T
hankfully h
is
t
eacher is
p
atient,
n
ever
r
ai
s
ing
hi
s
voice
in an
ger o
r frustr
ation a
t hi
s
pup
il's o
bvious l
ack o
f pro
gress
,
a
lways turnin
g
f
ailing
in
to a
ttribute,
se
ei
ng
o
nly th
e goo
d.

He
tries to play 'The Dancing Bear' but he can't string it together. He starts to
twiddle around the keyboard, pl
ay
ing
th
e
li
ttle
tun
es
h
e
kno
ws
b
y
he
art.
H
e p
lays th
ese wit
h th
e
swagge
r
o
f
a c
onfident
v
irtuoso, imit
ating
h
is
m
other'
s
s
way. It
's
e
asier
to stick to
think
s
h
e
kn
ows a
nd l
et
h
imself
b
elieve
that h
e
i
s
a
ctually
quit
e goo
d. H
e a
lways
i
ndulges th
e s
ame
fa
ntasy
a
t th
e
pi
ano,
fli
cking i
maginary
ta
ils
fro
m und
erneath
him
,
acknowl
edging
th
e a
pplause
a
nd u
sing
pl
enty o
f loud p
edal.

After
a while he has to stop to examine his hands
.
At
the end of his index finger another wart is growing. He can feel it as
h
e
pr
esses
th
e
k
eys
.
Thi
s w
art i
s a
l
ighter
co
lour th
an
th
e
o
riginal
a
nd
a
lready larger. H
e s
tarts
t
o
pi
ck a
t
it
,
h
olding
th
e
fin
ger
b
etween
hi
s
thumb
s see
ing h
ow
mu
ch
pr
essure
h
e ca
n
a
pply b
efore
h
e
f
eels
pain. P
erhaps
th
e
t
eacher
is
r
ight a
fter
a
ll
w
arts
a
re caus
ed
b
y
l
ying a
nd h
e
h
as
li
ed abo
ut h
is a
bility
to
r
ead
mu
sic.
H
e
feels the need to
sc
rub h
is
hand
s.

In the bathroom h
e
l
athers
up the soap more than he needs to and wash
es
hi
s
hand
s
as if trying to hide
e
vidence
.
He resolv
es
to t
ell
Billy Ev
ans
ev
erything
before
his next les
son.
When he dri
es
his hand
s,
h
e s
ees that the hand
towel i
s
filthy.
Som
eone
ha
sn't
rin
sed
their hands
properly and they'v
e
used it to wipe off th
e
dirt
.
No wonder h
e
has w
arts
.
No one is providing
cl
ean
laundry
in this place. The bathroom is not as swe
et
smellin
g as
it w
as.
Th
e
window
sill
th
at
once di
splayed
his moth
er's
ablutiv
e c
reams, lotion
s
and potions i
s e
mpty except for hi
s
f
ather's s
ilver ra
zor
and Jon's ch
eap
aftershave and Bi
cs.