No doubt he sat on one of those great rocks and played in his most seductive way, until he was quite surrounded by the savage creatures.
Can you not imagine him seated thus, drawing the weird yet sweet notes from his pipe, as first one pair of shiny eyes peered through the leaves or around the rocks, then another, and another, until gradually the creatures surrounded him? That music has charms has never been disputed. From the earliest history we have read stories of its wonderful subduing effect upon animals. A familiar quotation is this of Congreve’s:
“Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast,
To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.”
You will remember in the poem by Robert Browning, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, how the old rat explained why he followed the piper: “At the first shrill notes.... I heard ... a moving away of pickle-tubboards, and a leaving ajar of conserve-cupboards.” He smelled the most delicious old cheese in the world, and saw sugar barrels ahead of him, and then, just as a great sugar-puncheon seemed to be saying, “Come, bore me,” he felt the Weser rolling o’er him. Perhaps it is in some such way as this that the music holds these wolves as they follow the narrow path between the rocks. Charmed they are no doubt, but not tamed. See how the first two fellows seem to be keeping step with the man and the music, as they move with that soft, cautious tread of the wild animal.
With the artist, La Farge, this picture was purely imaginative. He delighted in all subjects dealing with fairyland or witchcraft.
In this picture we are left to guess what sort of a man this is, and where he is going. Some critics speak of him as a sort of centaur, only instead of being half horse and half man, he is half wolf and half man. However that may be, he is able to control these animals through the power of music. He seems a strange, wild creature, indeed, and as we look at the picture it almost seems as if he were leaving the trees and the companionship of men to go with these wolves to their caves among the rocks.
The glimpse of the thick woods in the distance is interesting because of the variety in the arrangement and size of the tree trunks, the spots of light, and the suggestion of wildness. The picture is made up of curved lines which help give us the feeling of rhythm and music.
Questions to help the pupil understand the picture. What is there unusual about this picture? Describe it. Describe the wolves. Tell something of their characteristics; their habits. Why are they feared? To what extent should you judge this man has tamed them? Where do they usually live? Where can we find wolves now? Why are they such a terror to travelers there? In what ways are they stronger than a horse? Describe the man in the picture.
To the Teacher: Fairy tales which may be read in connection with the study of this picture are “The Pied Piper of Hamelin,” “The Sorceress,” “The Fisherman and the Genii,” and “The Siren’s Song.”