Sir Piano and Miss Sunflower

Part I

Among all the Villaviciosas the most loved in the Kingdom was Villaviciosa de Odón, apreciatted by her artists, but mainly by her musicians.

The musicians I speak about were animals trained in playing instruments, though the most requested of all were not animals, but instruments that played by themselves. These instruments lived in Odón, an old castle from the times of the Crusades that defended people from the invading enemies of the art.

—Sir Clarinet, Sir Clarinet! Sir Violin, Lady Chelo come! Sir Piano has locked himself! —said Lady Flute from the main living room of the castle.

The first in appearing, Sir Violin Stradivarius, was a healthy violin of four strings and five pegs unique in the world. He was always playing, from one to other merlon of the castle, imitating the canaries and the crickets. He was happily married to Lady Chelo Guarnieri, the second in appearing.

—What has happened to him this time? —Sir Violin asked.

—I don’t know —Lady Flute answered—. I’ve heard a very strong noise from the kitchen and I’ve just arrived.

—He might be out of tune again —Lady Chelo said—. The last time that he closed his lid he was seven months without playing.

—What’s this din? —Sir Clarinet, who had just come from the cellar asked.

—As you can see: Sir Piano has closed himself again —Lady Chelo answered.

If Sir Piano closed his lid, the instruments of the castle (known as the Quintet of Odón) could not play together —the five together— and they couldn’t perform their famous “Moving Concerts of Villaviciosa de Odón”; so admired that even the king had banned any musician to play anywhere of the Kingdom during the performance of these concerts. As you see, the fact that Sir Piano closed his lid was almost a national disaster.

Part II

The next day a team of psychologists, parapsychologists, ultrapsychologists, wizards and prophets arrived to the castle, to discover what had happened with Sir Piano, because he hadn’t talked to anybody since then and it seemed he had gone out of this world.

—Sir Piano was playing so lovely till yesterday, as lovely as he always does, but suddenly, ploom!, he was closed —Lady Flute explained to the psychologists team. Lady Flute was obsessed with the Moon. Most of her time she used to polish her silver-skin and dress up white silk robes from the Sahara. In summer she didn’t sunbathe, but moonbathe at night!

—The last time Sir Piano closed his lid we couldn’t play the five together and Piris was so sad that avoided looking at us with her precious eyes during four springs —Sir Violin sighed.

For all the artists of the Kingdom, and not only of this Kingdom but of all the kingdoms of the planet, the inspiration was incarnated in Piris, a multiple goddess. She was multiple because she was the goddess of sweets and chocolates, of stars and comets, of toys and dolls, but mainly she was the goddess of beauty. Piris loved the “Moving Concerts of Villaviciosa de Odón” and if they astonished and exalted her, all the artists in the world would enjoy inspiration. It would make our Quintet of Odón play better, and if they pleyed better the goddess would enjoy more inspiration, and it would spread all over the planet…

But if Sir Piano closed, Piris would not look at us with her lovely eyes and all the artistic work of the planet would lack inspiration —divine inspiration.

Part III and final

After long investigation hours, the team of parapsychologists was completely and absolutely disappointed because they hadn’t found anything. Sir Clarinet, had been a former trumpet without pistons in other life and had a cleavage in one of his keys due to his activity in the “War of the Hundred Whistles” —that the oboes won—, he said to himself: “If we stopped playing each time we had a problem it’d be a terrible mess, but now it’s different because Sir Piano is the king of the instruments…”

—We should carry him to hospital; perhaps he has a torn string —Lady Chelo said. Lady Chelo was a good wife and an exemplary cook but she was also madly in love with Jazz music, so that her specialty in the kitchen was the “Tom-ate-Jazz”, that it is the preceding plate today we know by tomato juice, if you said very quickly.

Nobody knew what had happened to Sir Piano, neither Lady Flute, nor Lady Chelo, nor Sir Violin, nor Sir Clarinet, nor goddess Piris, nor ultrapsychologists team… Nobody. Is he out of tune? Will he have any broken string? Nobody knew it.

Suddenly…

—She has looked at me again, she has looked at me again! —Sir Piano shouted opening his lid.

—Who has looked at you?! —everybody asked.

—Miss Sunflower, the one that I see from my window. Yesterday she looked at me and I played for her all the day; but at dusk, when the Sun was setting down, she turned back and didn’t look at me anymore. That’s why I closed my lid —Sir Piano complained.

Sir Piano didn’t know that sunflowers face the Sun and turn round following it; by chance Miss Sunflower, he was playing for, had to turn round at that moment because the Sun was setting and Sir Piano had thought that she didn’t look at him because she didn’t like his music and very upset he closed his lid.

To avoid it the instruments, the goddess Piris and the team of wizards and prophets decided to move Miss Sunflower to a pot and to place her in Sir Piano’s room. They thought that if they also place a gigantic bulb of 500 wats —simulating the Sun— above the piano, Miss Sunflower would look at him all the time and thus Sir Piano would be happy and wouldn’t close himself again. It was perfect, the “Moving Concerts of Villaviciosa de Odón” started again and all of them were happy. But you can imagine the scene: Miss Sunflower looking at Sir Piano, or we might said, looking at the great bulb over him, and the rest of the instruments wearing sunglasses while playing because of the brightly power of the huge bulb. From that day the “Moving Concerts of Villaviciosa de Odón” happened to be called “Moving and Lit Concerts of Villaviciosa de Odón” and that is the end of this tale. That’s all folks!!