O'Carolan's Revenge

"O'Carolan's Revenge" was Rick Cook's short story in the October 1998 issue of Analog. This story was much more to my liking than the previous one I read. A "slice of life" time travel story, bittersweet, but satisfying.

The Irish harper, O'Carolan, is an old blind man living at the end of the "great houses" of Ireland. He knows his time on earth is short. He also knows that soon there won't be any hosts to give him shelter and board in exchange for his music, and with the loss of patrons he fears his music will die with himself.

He is approached by a man...a hard horse trader O'Carolan calls him by the name of Johnny Adams...and a woman...Mauve Fitzpatrick...who offer him hospitality for 3 days and nights. For 3 days and nights he plays for his strange hosts and forms a friendship with the woman and fellow harper, Mauve. At the end of the contract, the man pays O'Carolan with a bag of gold and a fine blue cloak, insisting that the harper sign his name to a paper as proof that it was he who played here. Before O'Carolan can sign Mauve rushes in and tells the Irish harper that they are "from the future" where his music is still admired. The songs have been recorded and will be sold to make Johnny rich.

O'Carolan realizes that Johnny is, in his mind, cheating him, but he also realizes that yes his music has lived on far into the future after all! So, the harper signs the contract, but exacts a toll. As Johnny and Mauve sit and listen, without their recording equipment, he plays them a composition that is the most beautiful thing he has every done. He then informs Johnny that he will never play that song again, so it will be lost to him for all time..that is his revenge.

After Johnny leaves frustrated, O'Carolan tells Mauve that she can play that song, that she must take it with her and make it her own. With that he bids his companions goodbye and with his lead boy leaves the ruined castle for the Roscommon Fair three days hence.

This story touches some points that interested me. First, what would be profitable from time-travel is bringing back lost art, music, and performances by long dead artists. Is that fair to the artists of the past? Perhaps, perhaps not. In many, perhaps most, cases an artist isn't "in it" for the money or the fame, but for the art itself and knowing that their art will live on after themselves might be a greater reward than any amount of gold. Suddenly, I am reminded of not one, not two, but many writers, artists, poets and composers who died by their own hand firmly convinced that they were failures...I'm sure you can think of a few. If they could only have seen into the future where their work is enjoyed, even revered, would they have stayed their hand?

Cook's story telling in this story was very good. He set the scene, drew me into his protagonist, and made me care for him. To be honest, I would greatly enjoy reading more about O'Carolan's life, no need for time-travel. I wonder if Rick Cook has gone on to great things? I wonder if he has written more tales of the Harper O'Carolan? I hope he has!