-
"You remember," said the crotchet rest,
"that there were two ways the crotchet could make himself longer. By using
a pause, he could make himself about half as long again, and he could do the
same by adding a dot. By adding more dots, he could add on half the value of
the dot before each one. But even though he kept on adding more and more dots
he could never reach a time of two beats, because for that he would need an
infinite number of dots. What the crotchet didn't think of was using the pause and one of the dots together."
"Of course!" said Annette, who was good at
fractions. " Then the dot would make him one and a half beats long, and
the little hat would add on about half of that, which is three quarters. 1/1/2 + 3/4 = 6/4 + 3/4 = 9/4 = 21/4, so he would be two and a
quarter beats long. Which is a quarter of a beat more than a minim."
"Yes," said the rest, "and by adding
more dots he could make himself nearly three beats long."
"But then," answered Minnie, "it
would just be a waste of time, because nobody would use a crotchet with a hat
on and an enormous string of dots after it, when a minim with only one dot
would do quite as well. I think they're making a lot of fuss about nothing. If
they really want to be minims they will just have to cut a big circle out of
their faces, so their head will be as empty as mine."
Rodney Rest did not answer, because his half hour
was over, and he had gone to sleep, right in the middle of the road. Annette
and Minnie picked him up and carried him to the grass, where they left him to
enjoy his dreams.
"Let's go and see the bigger rests,"
suggested Minnie. Annette agreed, so they set off further down the road to a
big building where the minim and semi-breve rests lived when they were not
needed on the staff. In the building was a long shelf. Minnie said it was
exactly the same as the second top space on the staff, which Annette thought
was rather strange, as she couldn't think of any difference between the five
spaces, apart from their position on the staff. Annette could see black
rectangular rests sitting all along this shelf, which stretched from one side
of the building to then other. Most of them were fast asleep.
"But they are all minim rests!" said
Annette. "Do the semi-breve rests live in another building?"
"No," answered Minnie. "You see,
semi-breve rests are exactly the same as minim rests, except that they have to
stand up so that they touch the ceiling of their space. This is harder for them
to do, because they have to be awake to stand up, and it tires them out very
quickly. However, they don't mind too much because they get paid more for it,
as a semi-breve is worth twice as much as a minim."
Annette wondered what they could spend their money
on if all they ever did was sleep, but before she had a chance to ask about it,
Minnie said, "I'll ask a few of them to stand up, so you will know what
they look like when they are semi-breve rests. They are very obliging and will
do anything you ask them if it is not difficult for them. Unfortunately, most
things are too difficult for
them."
She went up to a group of rests in the long row and
spoke to them. Waking with a yawn, the rests looked sleepily at the intruders
and agreed to stand up for a moment. In fact, they were glad of the chance to
show what they could do, and proudly stood up for Annette. It was not long,
though, before their eyes began to close, and they slowly sank down to their
sitting positions. "As you see," said Minnie, "they do not last
very long. Usually, when they are on the staff, some one had to whistle the
national anthem to them to keep them standing while they are waiting to be played."
"Those rests look so relaxed," said
Annette, that it makes me
tired."
"Me too," said Minnie. "Let's climb
up on the shelf with them and have a rest ourselves."
-
So they climbed up and were soon fast asleep, and
they are making me so tired that I
think I'll get on the shelf with them and have a sleep too, so if you want this
chapter to be any longer, you will have to write the rest yourself.
