The Saturn
Presentation of this planet and its moons, including ring and creatures
- Chapter 21 -
The singers above the rivers and lakes. The masters of the art of the fugue. The northern singer of the air, The most effective music.
The species of birds which we will now discuss are called the "singers above the rivers and lakes." These birds were mentioned once before because of their delightful singing. However, we will dedicate a little more attention to them and first take a look at their shape. These birds somewhat resemble the swans on earth, only twenty to thirty times larger in size, and the neck is not as long proportionately, but instead is much thicker. The head is proportionately larger than the head of a swan.
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These birds have a very flexible larynx which is in contact with a very agile tongue and in proportion to the rest of the body they have large, very elastic lungs with a large air capacity. They are the actual musicians on this planet - as far as music is concerned, they are entertainers. This bird never repeats anything it sings. Even if it sings for years, it will never repeat a melody it has already sung.
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This, however, is not what is surprising as far as the musical art of these aquatic singers is concerned, but when several of these birds gather (which is what usually happens because they like to sing in company), you will never hear one disharmonious chord. Should one of these birds begin to sing, it will not take long for a second, third, fourth and so on to join in, but it will never be one and the same melody. In spite of this, each bird will sing its own particular melody, but, guided by its very sensitive feelings, the singing of the other birds will never be in disharmonious contrast, even if there are up to thirty or more.
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The singing of these birds would be a feast to the ears of every friend of the strictest and most accomplished fugue. Not only is there a continuous meeting of new ideas, but these ideas are modulated and change the fundamental tone so suddenly that even the greatest composer on earth would not be able to imagine it. And imagine that the purest of voices are added to all of this; the voice of the best singer on earth would be a mere shriek by comparison. This will give you an idea of what great enjoyment these birds represent to the Saturnites, who from birth are great friends of music. All I can tell you is that if it were possible to hear only three tones from the throat of such an aquatic singer, all the music on earth would be repulsive to you for the rest of your life.
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These aquatic singers are also the reason why the Saturnites themselves do not show too much interest in the subject of music, even though they are great friends of music. They say: "When compared with these singers, our throats are nothing but clumsy wood. And the sounds that we compose are so bad by comparison that you cannot listen to them; and as long as the great Spirit of Spirits allows us to have these singers, we have the most magnificent music in abundance." The Saturnites who live on the shores of these lakes do not practice any music at all, whereas those who live farther away from these waters and those in the mountains do.
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Can these birds be captured and tamed? Yes, that can be done. But when such a bird is in captivity, it ceases to sing, even if there is a whole flock. But as soon as it is released and swims again on the surface of the water, the bird begins to sing.
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These are the singing birds which were mentioned earlier. Someone probably would like to know if these singers are at home in many of the large countries of this planet and whether their habitat is predominantly in the southern, northern, eastern or western parts. This species of birds has its habitat on most of the large mainland or continents. But in the countries themselves they mostly inhabit the southern regions.
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The northern parts have very few of this species; instead, another species makes its home there, which in a manner replaces this extraordinary company of singers. However, these northern singers of the air do not sing melodies. When several of these birds sing together, it sounds like a wind blowing through the strings of a harp, thus producing enticing sounds. In these regions it rarely happens that these weaker musicians hit a harmonious chord. But for those Saturnites who do not have the opportunity to hear the better singers, the songs of these birds are quite uplifting. Even if they do not sing as beautifully, they are more indigenous. As far as their shape is concerned, they are by far the most beautiful and most magnificent species of bird on this planet. We will discuss their appearance in the next message. But for today, this shall suffice.
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What do these northern singers of the air look like? It will be very difficult to give you a proper description, since there is not one bird on earth which resembles it. Regardless, we shall attempt to give you an idea as to the shape of this bird. Now listen:
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This bird is as large as a fully-grown ox on earth. Its body is covered throughout with greenish-golden feathers which are more wooly than smooth. The little feathers on the upper edges of the wings, beginning from the body right towards the ends of the wings, resemble polished gold upon which a bright red carmine color has been applied. The pinion feathers of the wings are light blue; whereas the edges of these feathers look like matte gold. The quills of the feathers are a dazzling white that scintillate in various colors like a gold mother-of-pearl shell on earth. The tail consists of long feathers and is divided into two parts, similar to a swallow on earth. These feathers are not covered with rigid down, but with long and flowing down. The flowing down has colors almost like the down of the peacock's tail feathers. On the outermost tips hangs a bushy mane of these flowing downs, which at times hangs 90 inches long from the feathers. But it is so light that its entire weight in accordance with your measurement does not even weigh 9 grams. These down-manes are multi-colored, so that with every move the colors change.
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The feet of this bird are completely white and well shaped, that is, they are not in accordance with the feet of the birds on earth. The difference is that the feet of the earthly birds are usually naked and highly thin, while the feet of the bird~ on Saturn, right down to the claws, are much meatier and are covered with the most beautiful plumage, which looks exactly like that of the abdominal area, only a little lighter in color. The so-called talons on the feet of the Saturnian birds usually have the shape of the paws of a well-shaped monkey on earth. In this case, however, this bird has feet shaped like a real human hand, only that the fingers up to the pointed nails are covered with beautiful light feathers.
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This is what this bird looks like from the body to the head, the head being the most peculiar part. Why is that so? Behold, this bird (believe it or not) has two heads, but not in the same fashion as those earth pictures of a two-headed eagle; instead, these two heads are one on top of the other. A neck like a swan with a head emerges from the crown of the lower head.
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The lower head is quite round and has a diameter from the bottom to the top of almost 2 feet and is 1 ½ feet wide. This head has a female human face, almost like the mermaids on earth (which are, of course, very rarely seen), and the top of the head is covered with the richest long hair, changing over into a dark blue color. From the crown of this lower head emerges a 30-inch long neck with a second head which somewhat resembles the head of a swan on earth and which serves this bird in the same manner as the trunk serves the elephant.
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The bird does not take any nourishment through the second head, because this neck has no throat. Regardless of that, this head does have two eyes and, since it is very flexible, this bird can see everywhere with the eyes of the upper head, whereas it cannot see with the eyes of the lower head. However, since the eyes in the lower head are very sharp, they allow the bird to distinguish everything over the farthest distances. The face of the lower head is not naked; it is also covered with very small pale red feathers; only the lips and the opening of a rather flat nose are bare; everything else is feathered. The eyes of the lower head are large and light blue and towards the forehead the second neck changes over into a dazzling white color. The neck of the upper head is light violet, whereas the head is completely fire-red. The beak is bluish-white with a very strong grip well equipped for holding onto objects.
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How does this bird take its nourishment and how does it drink? This is done in a very simple manner. It removes the fruit from the tree with its upper head and holds it in front of the mouth of the lower head, which with its sharp teeth, like the mouths of monkeys on earth, naturally bites into the fruit and consumes it. If this bird wants to drink, it uses the upper head like a drinking glass. It scoops up the water with the upper head and keeps it in the large hollow space of the upper head and then takes it to the mouth of the lower head and the lower mouth drinks from the upper head.
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That was our second singer, although somewhat imperfect, because it can only sing one tone. But this tone is beautiful and melodious. It would impress the people on earth more than a complete orchestra.
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And you can believe Me when I say that the music in heaven, when it is most appealing, does not consist of a conflict of many sounds, but instead it is one single tone. This music is the most touching and the most effective. Prove it to yourself. What do you prefer: A single clear beautiful note of a male or female singer, or a piercing chord made by an instrument? When someone has an extremely clear and highly melodious voice, would it not be a pity if such a voice were to be overshadowed by other sounds? Therefore it is not a matter of the multifariousness of the sounds, but it is the quality of the individual tone that causes the heart-rending effect of the music. A perfect tone is within itself already the purest harmony, since a tone does not come individually by itself to a perceptible or audible manifestation; instead, when the fundamental tone comes into being, there already exist within this tone the corresponding tones which are derived from the fundamental tone in the proper proportions, almost like the sound of a pure bell.
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That is how you must imagine the tone of this Saturnian singer to be, but in a fairly low octave, as for instance the G, A and B which is known on earth as the great octave. This will give you an idea of the singing of this bird. When this bird sings, it begins with pianissimo as much as possible and increases the tone without deviating in the slightest, or in other words without lowering or raising the tone, to such a decibel level as if you were right next to a bell that is being pealed. The bird keeps this decibel level for a few seconds. Then it lets it fade more and more until you can no longer hear it. Should there be two, three or even four of these birds together, and if they have coincidentally good harmonious voices, this gives a surprisingly wonderful melodious chord, which is enjoyed by the Saturnites.
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There is, however, no change in this chord; in other words, one and the same chord remains. Even though this kind of music cannot in any way compete with the music of our wellknown main singers, this simple music never fails its purpose. Should there be two Saturnites at odds with each other, which only occurs on this planet occasionally, all that is needed is this kind of simple singing, and in no time these two bitter enemies become the most peaceful friends. That is why these birds are often called "peace makers."
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These birds can also be tamed and then take the same place as peacocks on earth and are considered to be ornamental birds. These tame birds have a stronger voice but their tone is somewhat coarser, while the same species in the wild produces a highly clear and pure sound. The tame species are sometimes taken as a rarity to the southern regions of a country. But there they soon lose their voices as a result of different nourishment; they become sad and sick and usually die soon. That is also why the northern people are not easily convinced to part with any of these birds, because of their fondness for them.
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The female species bears her young alive and feeds them with very full breasts which are below the neck of the lower head, almost like a human female; only the breast of this bird is not bare, but is covered with light feathers.
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Now you know everything that you should know about this bird. After this we shall take a look at some of the domesticated fowl, and then we shall turn to the land animals; following that we shall discuss the Saturnites.