Frog Chorus, “聽取蛙聲一片”

Frog Chorus, “聽取蛙聲一片”


(Cartoon from Amphibian Chorus "fairfaxcounty. gov")

Frog chorus is one of the nature’s richest orchestra plays.

For those who had lived in the Taiwan’s countryside, especially
where there were rice fields or ponds nearby, the nightly frog calls
during their mating season was a nice auditory experience. During
my childhood, as our house was partly surrounded by the rice
paddies and there was a pond behind, the croaking of the male rice
field frogs (or "水雞" in Taiwanese) was a sweet memory.

黃梅時節家家雨，青草池塘處處蛙。（宋 趙師秀 約客）
稻花鄉裡說豐年，聽取蛙聲一片。 （宋 辛棄疾 西江月）

Sigurd Olson had written the best essay on “Frog Chorus”, a piece of
wilderness music, in his book “The Singing Wilderness”:

“….. But a real music of a bog is the frog chorus. If they are in the full
swing when you approach, they stop by sections as though part of the
orchestra was determined to carry on in spite of the faintheartedness
of the rest. One must sit quietly for some time before they regain their
courage. At first there are individual piping notes, a few scattered
guttural croaks, then a confused medley as though the instruments
were being tuned. Finally in a far corner a whole section swings into
tremulous music, hesitant at the start but gradually gathering
momentum and volume. Soon a closer group begins, and then they all
join in until there is again a sustained and grand crescendo of sound....”

Only those, like Olson, who appreciate the beauty of nature and
closely observe its minutiae, can write such a delightful essay.

Yeh Tze