Interesting question. It reminds me of the one that goes soemthing like, if you were to lose the use of one of your five senses (vision, hearing, smell, taste, touch) which one would you be most willing to part with?Difficult to answer.
Most people would balk first at losing sight...as would I. but looking at all the others, I think, memory being what it is, that might the first one I could let go of...I KNOW what a tree looks like...and could be happy to hear its leaves in the wind, smell its sap rising in spring and leaves decaying in fall, taste its apples and nuts, feel its rough bark and smooth leaves...
But back to giving up my musical ability for some big sum of money or what have you...well, it's mostly rhetorical since how could one actually give up one's talent? Then again the conditions could be something like, one agrees never to sing or play again in exchange for...
No. No, I say. I have been given a gift and the faculty to improve it and enjoy it and it does seem a silly thing, to trade it away, for money or a mansion or even a handsome playboy...