��ˮ����Ƶ

Tale Summary

Once upon a time, the Emperor of China lived in a magnificent palace surrounded by a wonderful garden in front of the sea and the woods, and in those woods a nightingale with the sweetest voice lived. Travelers came from around the world to visit her, and many books praised her. The Emperor had not heard of the bird until he read one of these books given to him by the Emperor of Japan, and told his First Lord to find it, but it was to no avail. The Lord told him it was probably made-up, but the King threatened to trample the whole court underfoot that evening if it was not found. A poor little girl in the kitchen said she knew the bird well, and heard it while carrying scraps of food to her sick mother through the wood. The First Lord promised her a top spot in the kitchen and leave to see the Emperor at dinner if only she led the way to the nightingale and she agreed. On their way they heard a cow mooing and everyone was convinced it was the bird, and further along they mistook croaking frogs as well. When they finally found the bird they asked if she would sing for the Emperor and she agreed, and then sang a marvelous song, thinking that he was in front of her. They invited her to the palace and she consented, and everything was beautifully prepared. She sang for the Emperor so sweetly that tears came to his eyes, and she would accept no payment. Everyone in the court was pleased with her song and she was made to stay and had her own cage, and was given permission to walk twice in the day and once at night with a silken string keeping her near, which was no way to live. One day, the Emperor received a gift from the Emperor of Japan, a little mechanical nightingale made with precious stones, who could sing as well as the real one. The two birds were made to sing a duet, but they did not perform well together, and so the artificial nightingale sang the same song 33 times by itself. During this time, the real nightingale had flown out the window. Everyone thought that she was very ungrateful, and said that they still had the better bird anyway, and so the mechanical nightingale was highly praised and the real one was banished from the kingdom. One evening while the Emperor lay in bed listening to it, the bird suddenly stopped singing, and a clockmaker said it must only be played very seldomly as its parts were worn down and could not be replaced, and so it only sung once a year. Five years later, the Emperor fell ill and a new Emperor was chosen, as the old one was likely to die. His court abandoned him in his bed to instead pay their respects to their new lord, and so he laid in silence. He wished he had music to help him through, but because there was no one to wind up the mechanical bird, it could not sing. Suddenly, a beautiful song came from the window, and the Emperor saw that it was the real nightingale, and his life began to return to him. He asked how he could reward her, and she said that it still pleased her that he wept the first time he heard her song, and she sang him a lullaby. After the night passed he was strong and well again and asked the bird to stay with him. She said she could not do that, but would visit and sing for him, as she loved his heart better than his crown, but asked him never to tell anyone he had a little bird who told him everything. She left and his servants came to look at the dead Emperor, and he wished them a good morning.

��