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The next night, Gauche played the cello all night again, and just before dawn he got tired and dozed off with the sheet music in his hand, when he heard someone knocking on the door again.
It was barely audible, but since it happened every night, Gauche heard it right away and said, "Come in."
Suddenly, a field mouse slipped in through the gap in the door.
Leading its very tiny baby, it trudged towards Gauche.
The field mouse's baby looked no bigger than an eraser, so Gauche couldn't help but laugh.
The field mouse then looked around, wondering why Gauche was laughing, and came towards him.
She placed a green chestnut in front of him, bowed properly, and said,"Doctor, this child is in a bad condition and is on the verge of death. Please have some mercy and heal him."
"There's no way I could be a doctor,"Gauche said, a little annoyed.
The mother field mouse then looked down and was silent for a while, but then she spoke again with determination.
"Doctor, that's a lie. You cure everyone's illnesses so well every day, don't you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Well, thanks to you, Rabbit's grandmother was cured, Tanuki's father was cured, and even that nasty owl was cured, so it's a shame that you haven't been able to help this little one."
"Oh, come on, you must be mistaken. I've never cured an owl of any illness. Although, the little raccoon came last night and pretended to be a band. Ha ha ha." Gauche looked down at the little mouse in amazement and laughed.
Then the mother mouse began to cry. "Oh, I wish my son had gotten sick sooner. Just a moment ago the cello was so loud and playing, but the moment my son got sick the sound went silent, and no matter how much I beg him, he never plays the cello again. What an unfortunate child he is."
"What? If I play the cello, will owls and rabbits be cured? How can that be?" asked Gauche in shock.
The field mouse rubbed her eyes with one hand and said,"Yes, when the animals around here get sick they go under the floor of your house to get better."
"Does this cure you?"
"Yes. The blood circulates much better throughout the body, and some people feel great and get cured right away, while others get cured after they get home."
"Ah, I see. So when the sound of my cello resonates, it massages you and cures your illnesses. I understand, I understand. Let me try it." Gauche tuned the strings of the cello, and suddenly picked up a baby mouse and put it into the hole of the cello.
"I'll go with you. That's the case in all hospitals." The mother mouse hastily jumped onto the cello.
"Do you want to come in?" The cellist tried to get the mother mouse through the hole in the cello, but only half her face could fit through.
The mother field mouse called out to her baby inside.
"Are you OK? Did you fall with your feet together like usual?"
"Yes, I did," the baby mouse replied in a mosquito-like voice from the bottom of the cello.
"Don't worry. That's why I told you not to cry." Gauche put the mother mouse down on the floor, then took his bow and played something he called a rhapsody. The mother ｍouse listened to the sound with a very anxious look on her face, but finally she couldn't bear it any longer and said, "I've had enough. Please let him out."
"Oh, so this is okay," said Gauche, tilting the cello and placing his hand over the hole as he waited, and soon a baby mouse came out.
Gauche put it down in silence.
When he looked, the baby mouse had its eyes closed and was trembling vigorously.
"How was it? Are you feeling okay?"
The baby mouse didn't react at all, and continued shivering for a while with his eyes closed, then suddenly got up and took off running.
"Oh, he's better now. Thank you. Thank you." The mother mouse ran along with him, and soon came in front of Gauche, bowing profusely and saying "Thank you. Thank you" about ten times.
Gauche felt sorry for them and asked, "Hey, you guys, do you want some bread?"
The field mouse looked around in surprise, then said, "Bread is made from kneaded wheat flour and baked, and it is apparently plump and delicious, but even if that were not the case, we have never even been in your cupboard, and how could we possibly carry it out after all the help we have received?"
"No, I didn't ask you anything like that. I just asked if you wanted some bread. So eat it. Wait a moment. I'll give it to the child who has an upset stomach."
Gauche put his cello on the floor, plucked a piece of bread from the cupboard and placed it in front of the field mouse.
The field mouse now acted like a complete idiot, crying, laughing and bowing, before carefully placing the bread in his mouth and taking his child with him outside.
"Oh, talking to mice is quite tiring." Gauche collapsed into his bed and immediately fell into a deep sleep.
Then, on the sixth night, the members of the Venus Orchestra, all with flushed faces, came out of the stage, each with their instruments, and entered the waiting room at the back of the town hall. They had successfully completed the Sixth Symphony.
The applause was still roaring like a storm through the hall.
The conductor walked slowly among the musicians with his hands in his pockets, as if he didn't care about the applause, but was in fact full of joy.
The musicians put cigarettes in their mouths, struck matches, and replaced their instruments in their cases.
In the hall, hands were still clapping. If anything, the clapping sound was getting louder and louder, until it sounded somehow scary and uncontrollable.
The emcee came in wearing a large white ribbon on his chest.
"We're doing an encore, but could you at least play us something short?"
The conductor replied with a stern voice, "No, we can't. After such a big piece, whatever we play won't do us any good."
"Okay, conductor, please come on stage and say something."
"No. Hey, Gauche, come out and play something."
"Me?" Gauche was surprised.
"It's you, it's you," the first violinist said, suddenly looking up.
"Do it ," the conductor said.
The others forced Gauche to hold his cello, opened the door, and suddenly shoved him onto the stage.
When Gauche came out on stage, completely at a loss, carrying his old cello, the audience clapped their hands even more enthusiastically with joy, as if to say, "Look! We've been waiting for this!"
Some even seemed to shout, "Wow!"
"How far are you going to go in making fun of me? Just watch while I play you 'The Indian Tiger Hunt.'" Gauche calmed down completely and stepped out into the middle of the stage.
Then he played "The Indian Tiger Hunt" with the same energy as when the calico cat came, like an angry elephant.
But the audience was silent and listened intently.
Gauche kept playing.
He passed the part where the cat got so upset that it started to shoot sparks.
He also passed the part where the cat slammed its body against the door several times.
When the cello solo finished, without even a glance at the others, Gauche quickly grabbed his cello and ran to the dressing room, looking like a calico cat.
In the dressing room, the conductor and his colleagues were all sitting silently, glaring, as if they had just been caught in a fire.
Feeling hopeless, Gauche walked quickly among the others, plopped himself down on the bench opposite, and sat cross-legged.
Then everyone turned towards Gauche and looked at him, but they all looked serious and didn't seem to be laughing at him.
"What a strange night tonight," Gauche thought.
At that moment the conductor stood up and said,"Gauche, that was great. Everyone here was listening to your solo with great interest. You've accomplished a lot in just a week or ten days. Compared to ten days ago, you're like a baby and a soldier. If you'd wanted to do it, you could have done it anytime, dear."
All the other musicians stood up and said to Gauche, "That's great."
"Well, you're only able to do this kind of crazy practice because you're in good health. A normal person would die from doing it," the conductor said from across the room.
Late that night, Gauche returned home.
And again he gulped down some water.
Then he opened the window and looked out at the distant sky where he thought Cuckoo had once flown away.
He said, "Ah, Cuckoo. I'm sorry back then. I wasn't angry."