Apollo, who was the Greek god of music, was very proud of how well he could play the lyre. Everyone agreed that no music was as good as Apollo's until one day he was told of a shepherd called Olander, whose melodies on the flute were just as sweet as his. So Apollo invited Olander to Delphos, his island home, and challenged him to a contest.
First the god, and then the shepherd, played before a great audience, and the most wonderful melodies came forth from their instruments. The Muses, who were acting as judges. found it impossible to decide which of the two was the better musician. Very put out at this, Apollo proposed a second trial.
'This time let us play our instruments the opposite way,' he said. Again Apollo played first, but even though his lyre was upside down, beautiful music still flowed from it. Then it was Olander's turn. He put the other end of the flute into his mouth, but though he puffed and puffed, he was quite unable to produce a sound.
Only at the end did Olander realise that he had been tricked, because a flute cannot be played from the opposite end to the mouthpiece. So Apollo won, but the Muses still refused to give him any prize because he had won by trickery.
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