Groverzb closed the lid, sat down and struck a single note. A clear tone sang out. He moved chromatically up and down the scale. Definitely not out of tune. He shifted the score, glanced uneasily at the keys and began to play. Discord immediately pierced his eardrums. He clapped his hands over his ears and leaped wildly from the piano bench. The trip, he decided frantically. It must have affected my hearing. He flung himself from the house and down the slope. The Little People scattered, staring. He charged into the administration building and clutched the lapels of a uniformed official. "A doctor!" he gasped. "Now! This minute!" The official raised his eyebrows and removed Groverzb's hands with distaste. "It's a little late in the day," he drawled, "but maybe the doc up on the top floor--" Groverzb flew up the stairs and into the doctor's office. The doctor's face lit up. "A patient!" he exclaimed. "Capital! What seems to be the trouble? Food poisoning? Shouldn't eat the food here. Garbage. Appendix? Heart attack?" "Stop talking, you idiot, it's my ears!" Obviously disappointed, the doctor nevertheless poked and peered at Groverzb's ears. "No," he said finally. "A trifle big, yes. But nothing wrong with them." "You're sure?" "Absolutely. A pity. I'm getting a bit rusty." With a groan, Groverzb staggered out of the building, back through town, and up the slope to his house. Seating himself firmly on the bench he began to play. He shuddered. The noise was abominable. Suddenly his door burst open and a crowd of Little People rushed in. They pulled him off the bench and slapped angrily at his hands. Then, with cutters, they attacked the piano. "Here, stop that!" Groverzb screeched. "What do you think you're doing?" The Little People pushed and dragged him out of the house, down the slope, through the town and into the launching bowl at the space-strip. The launching agent took one look and yelled, "Get the interpreter! On the double!" The interpreter ran up and whipped something from his pocket. It looked like a miniature piano skeleton. He tripped a hammer. There was a faint tinkle. Instantly one of the Little People produced a single miniature hammer and tapped it rapidly against his skull. The interpreter tripped another hammer. A second little one responded. * * * * * Suddenly one of the Little People ran over and tripped all the interpreter's hammers simultaneously. The Little People winced. "Oh," said the interpreter. "Well, it's their planet." He hustled Groverzb out to a freight ship that was warming up for takeoff. "Is everyone insane?" Groverzb croaked. "I demand to know what this is all about!" The interpreter shoved Groverzb into the ship. "They say you talk too much!" he yelled, as he slammed the door. END