Author James Hewitt tells of a family of mice who lived in a large piano. In their piano-world came the music of the instrument, filling all the dark places with sound and harmony.
At first the mice were impressed by it. They drew comfort from the thought that there was someone who made the music (though invisible to them) above, yet close. They loved to think of the Great Player whom they could not see.
Then one day a daring mouse climbed far up the piano and returned very thoughtful. He had found out how music was made. Wires were the secret, tightly stretched wires of graduated lengths which trembled and vibrated. They must revise all their old beliefs: none but the most conservative could believe in the Unseen Player.
Later, another mouse explorer carried the explanation further. Hammers were now the secret, numbers of hammers dancing and leaping on the wires. This was a more complicated theory, but it showed that they lived in a purely mechanical and mathematical world. The Unseen Player came to be thought of as a myth.
Greg NanceBut the Pianist continued to play.