Different Flute















A peddler was selling wood flutes near the Liquin Market, by the university
gate. Its melody was haunting. Only cost a few yuen, so I bought one.
Usually I can figure flutes out, so I thought I'd be able to play it.
Wrong! Not only are the instrument's holes calibrated to a different scale
from ours; its curving mouthpiece seems to work differently from a Western
flute or recorder. It's sort of like an oboe with no reed. I can only get
a droning noise from it, and I can't change tones whatever I do with my
fingers. Maybe I'll hang it on the wall when I return to America.