Interactive Reading

But it wasn’t. Everyone loved Ola’s playing now. His family
begged him to take out his fiddle in the evening, after
the day’s work was done. Neighbors invited him to their
farms to play for them. Whenever a joyous occasion arose,
people sent for Ola to play. “You’re a great fiddler, Ola!”
everyone said.
It wasn’t so, and Ola knew it. A vast gulf lay between
what Ola wanted to play and what he could play. He heard
music everywhere: in the wind, in trees, rippling fields of
wheat and rushing streams, in surging ocean waves and
quiet mountain meadows. He tried to capture it with his
fiddle, but the notes slipped away. Ola felt like a fisherman
carried out to sea by a running tide. He sees the land clearly,
but he cannot reach it, no matter how hard he rows.
“I must visit the fosse-grim,” Ola said to himself.
Once more Ola followed the stream. He struggled up
the path, bent double with the weight of a whole side of
beef on his shoulders.
180
“Nothing buys nothing,” the grim replied. “What did
you bring me?”
150
Pause at line 193.
Underline the extended
simile that the writer uses
to help us imagine how Ola
feels about his music.
“A whole leg of mutton!” Ola took the meat from his
knapsack. He tossed it to the grim, who gnawed it down
to the bone.
“That’s worth something,” the grim finally said,
Pause at line 168. Underline
the simile that describes
how Ola felt as he played.
Underline the simile that
helps you hear the quality of
the music Ola was able to
play after his second lesson.
smacking his lips. “Take out your fiddle. We’ll play
together.”
Pause at line 194. What is it
that Ola wants now? What
will he do to find it?
Ola wants greatness as
The grim came out of the pool. He sat beside Ola,
pressing the boy’s fingers down with his left hand and
adequate (ad√i •kw¥t) adj.:
good enough.
282 Interactive Reading: Teacher’s Edition
a fiddle player. He will
190
probably find the
pulling his wrist back and forth with his right.
“Ow! You’re pinching me!” Ola cried.
“Stop complaining! Open yourself to the music. Feel
160
• • • • • • Notes • • • • • •
fosse-grim and beg
for another lesson.
its wonder. Let it take you.”
Ola played and played. The grim guided his fingers
from note to note. Ola felt as if he had walked through a
hidden door into a secret realm. He lost himself in the
“Grim, come out! I need you!” Ola called to the
music that poured from his fiddle like a mountain brook
streaming down a waterfall.
waterfall.
The fosse-grim emerged from the pool. “What do you
want, boy?”
“Grim, it is not enough to be a good fiddler. I want to
be a great fiddler. I want to be able to play the music I hear,
the music I love. I will practice night and day. I will do
anything you ask. Look! I have brought you half of a whole
steer. If it is not enough, I will go back down the mountain
for more. Tell me what I must do, Grim, to become the
fiddler I want to be.”
“Put down the beef and take out your fiddle,” the grim
said. He climbed out of the pool to sit beside Ola. “You and
200
At last the grim said, “Enough! I’ve given you a leg of
mutton’s worth of music. Those tunes are in your fingers
170
now. Practice every day so you don’t forget them.
Otherwise, you’ll have to bring me another leg of mutton
Have you noticed that the
amount of food Ola brings
the grim gets larger and
larger? What has he brought
the grim now?
Pause at the bottom of the
page. Is this what Ola wants?
to have me teach you again.”
“Will I be a good fiddler?” Ola asked.
“Adequate. Nothing more. What do you expect for a
Probably not. He
seems unsure.
a half of a steer
leg of mutton? You’ll earn your living playing at weddings
and festivals. At least people won’t run away when you take
Chapter 8
Pupil Pages 292–329
out your fiddle. Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“I guess so,” said Ola.
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Ola and the Grim 325
324 Chapter 8 You the Critic