Start Again at the Note You Missed

Transcript

A family could see into a box where a wren had made her nest. What they watched became a small story about patience. The mother bird perched at the opening and sang. One of her young attempted to follow. A few notes came, then the little voice faltered. In the family’s account, the mother began again at the point where it had stopped. The youngster resumed. When it faltered once more, she supplied the remainder. Eventually it reached the end. Then came another young bird, and another attempt. A Hundred Anecdotes of Animals, the nineteen hundred and one collection, calls this story Learning to Sing. Its narrator understood the repeated exchanges as lessons, with the mother returning again and again to the troublesome passage. That is the interpretation handed down in the book. The scene itself is easy to linger over: a family watching a nest box, listening to a song begin, break off, and begin again.