IN IRISH CULTURE CENTER
（A: Akiko, C: CASHELL）
A: Hi Cashell.
C: Hi Akiko. Okay, today you're taking your Irish traditional music test. Grand prize: I take you to the big ceili on Saturday night.
A: Oh, that's a good prize.
C: And if you lose, I'll still take you. Okay, here we go. What's this sound? And what great Irish poet wrote which great Irish poem?
BGM: sound of a fiddle
A: （あ、これは知っている！）Oh of course, that's the fiddle ? I like the way the fiddle makes you want to move your feet. And, the poet is...William Butler Yeats.
C: Do you remember the poem? For the good are always the merry...
A: Ah, Cashell, I'm sorry...
C: Don't worry about it. Let's keep going, and maybe it'll come to you. Now, what can you tell me about this instrument?
BGM: sound of tin whistle
A: That is the tin whistle. It has been part of Irish culture since the 3rd. century.
（A: Akiko, C: Cashell）
BGM: sound of bodhran
C: And what is this one?
A: That is the heartbeat of Irish music: the bodhran. （言い方、あってるかな？）
C: You have it right! It's the bodhran.
A: It's a drum, with a wooden body. And the traditional ones used goat-skin. And you play it with a stick that has 2 heads called Cipin.
BGM: sound of uilleann pipes
A: Oh, that sound is so beautiful! That is the Irish bagpipe: the uilleann! （note: pronounced: illan）
C: Exactly! now, you were telling me a story about Japan and...storytelling...
A: Well, I learned that people in Ireland, like people in Japan, loved to tell stories. Like we have Biwa-houshi and Rakugo culture, in Ireland they had bards, who sang stories. Sometimes they were sad stories: but they were always beautiful.
C: And those stories are called laments. You know, when someone sings a lament, even in a crowded bar, everyone stops and listens.
A: I like to watch the faces of the crowd as they sing. Irish music has so much emotion!
BGM: lively Irish music
A: But, most of all, I love Irish dancing music! Everyone helps the musicians by cheering and stomping their feet.
C: Yeah, they do. Now, for the grand prize, which you're going to get anyway: what's that bit of poetry from Yeats?
A: （あ、もしかしてクラスで覚えたあの詩かな？）
For the good are always the merry,
A / C: Save by an evil chance,
And the merry love the fiddle
And the merry love to dance
