The Nightingale

Long ago, the Emperor of China had a magnificent palace with a beautiful garden surrounding it. Beyond that, a forest stretched to the sea. In the forest a nightingale sang so sweetly that everyone stopped to listen to it!
Even travellers from other kingdoms said that the most beautiful thing in the kingdom was the song of the nightingale, and wrote about it in their books.
One of these books reached the hands of the Emperor. He read in the book that the traveller had admired and enjoyed everything in the kingdom. But, said the traveller in his book, the nightingale was the most beautiful of all things in the kingdom. The Emperor sat in his golden chair and wondered why he had never heard of this bird.

He called his lord-in-waiting and said, “This book says that the best thing in my kingdom is the nightingale. How is it I have never seen or heard of it?” He ordered the lord-in-waiting, “I want you to bring this nightingale. It must sing this evening for me!”
The courtier assured the Emperor he would find it. A search began in the palace to find out if anyone knew of the bird. Finally, a kitchen-maid said she knew about it, for she walked home through the forest and had heard the nightingale’s song. She led the people along with the lord-in-waiting to the forest and there she pointed to a plain-looking brown bird sitting on the branch of a tree.

“Little nightingale,” said the kitchen maid to the bird, “Would you sing this evening for our Emperor?”
“I sing the best in these woods,” said the bird, “But I’ll come and sing for him.” The nightingale flew along with all of them to the palace. That evening, it sang and the Emperor was so moved by its singing that tears rolled down his cheeks. He wished to reward the bird, but it replied that it had received its reward when it saw the Emperor weep.
The Emperor ordered that from now onwards the nightingale would live at the palace in a beautiful cage. So, they brought a beautiful cage and put the nightingale into it. It was allowed out in the morning and evening, but only with a silken thread tied to its leg. The nightingale was not free any more and grew sad.

One day, the Emperor received a fabulous gift as a tribute to the nightingale. It was a beautifully crafted golden bird, studded with rubies and emeralds and other precious stones, from the Emperor of Japan. The Emperor was very impressed with the beautiful bird. The nightingale always sang a new melody. But when the jewelled bird was wound up, it sang the same tunes repeating them untiringly thirty-three times. The Emperor enjoyed the songs of the new bird.
While the Emperor and his courtiers enjoyed the songs of the new bird, the nightingale slipped out of the cage and flew away to its beloved woods. When they looked for the nightingale, it had gone. The Emperor was so angry that he banished it from his kingdom.
A silken cushion was provided beside the Emperor’s bed for the jewelled bird. For a year the Emperor enjoyed the music of the bird, and then one day something in the mechanism inside the bird broke down. It stopped singing!
A lot of effort was made to get it working again. Finally, it was repaired by an old watchmaker. But he warned the Emperor that it should be used very rarely. So, the Emperor ordered that the bird’s song would be played only once a year.
Thus five years passed. The Emperor lay very ill and wished to hear music. “Please sing for me, bird! I wish to hear music!” pleaded the Emperor to the golden bird. But the jewelled bird was silent. No one was there to wind it up.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of music coming from outside his window. The nightingale sat singing on the branch of a tree outside. The music filled the Emperor’s heart with peace and joy! After that, every evening the nightingale would come to sing to him and slowly the Emperor’s strength returned.
“You returned to sing to me even though I banished you,” said the Emperor to the nightingale one day, “Tell me how I can reward you.”
“You rewarded me with your tears when I sang for you the first time,” replied the little nightingale, “I’ll come every day and sing to you of all the stories around your kingdom. But I must be free to fly always. Only then can I sing my beautiful songs.”

The next morning when his courtiers came, they were surprised to see the Emperor standing at the window, looking at his beautiful garden! They were very pleased when their beloved Emperor turned around, looking fit and well, and said, “Good morning!”

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