Sometimes the smallest object, surviving without
fundamental change, can put us magically in
touch with a vanished world. This little clay
whistle was a modest enough object in its own
time, perhaps blown at a religious festival. It is
modeled in the shape of a comical human head
with a snub nose like some Meso-American
satyr. As we place it to our lips and coax out its
high notes, we realize we are hearing the exact
same sound as the whistle's original owner. We
might know nothing else about that ancient life,
yet for a brief second, we are connected directly
to their world.
- (PF.1962)
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