Part the Fourth

So yet again the church was left without a bell ringer. An advertisement was placed in the San Giovanni Gazette and within days another young man who possessed two stout arms applied for the job, and the Archbishop asked him to demonstrate his skill with the rope.

The man replied, "I have no need for the rope -- just watch this!"

With that, he dropped his jaw, tilted his head backward, and produced from his throat a perfect E above high C.

And then … and then … to everyone’s astonishment, he held the note, and held it, and held it, and the bell began to hum to itself, to sing, to resonate with sympathetic vibrations!  And then suddenly, the most magnificent tone could be heard throughout the city. The beauty of the sound was incredible, and the man was hired upon the spot!

With his unique skill, it soon became obvious that the man could ring the bell without even entering the belfry. Each day at noon he would simply walk along the sidewalk by the church, drop his jaw, tilt his head backward, produce a perfect E above high C, and ring the bell to the amazement of all.

Until one fateful day, quite by accident, the sympathetic vibrations caused the rope holding the bell to snap!  To the horror of the bystanders, the huge bell tumbled out the side of the belfry, plunged toward the ground, and crushed the man to his death upon the pavement below.

A crowd gathered ‘round; a policeman came; the Archbishop padded out to see what was the commotion. 

Looking up, the policeman asked, "Do you know this man’s name?"

And the Archbishop replied ….

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Nooooo...

But he was a real humdinger!