{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_71096/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_71096","id":"gutenberg_71096","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/71096","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","China -- Kings and rulers -- Juvenile fiction","Fairy tales","Nightingale -- Juvenile fiction","Songbirds -- Juvenile fiction"],"text":"Transcriber\u2019s Note\n\n\nWhen blackletter font was used in the original book, the corresponding\ntext has been surrounded by _underscores_.\n\nSome corrections have been made to the printed text. These are listed in\na second transcriber\u2019s note at the end of the text.\n\n\n\n\n                            The Nightingale\n\n\n                            BY HANS ANDERSEN\n\n\n\n\n                  NEW YORK: R. H. RUSSELL, MDCCCXCVIII\n\n[Illustration: Illustrated title page]\n\n\n\n\n         COPYRIGHT, 1895, BY D. B. UPDIKE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.\n\n\n\n\n                                  Note\n\n\nIn this Merrymount Edition of Hans Andersen\u2019s story, the translation of\nH. W. Dulcken is followed. The illustrations are by Mary J. Newill of\nBirmingham.\n\n\n\n\n                            The Nightingale\n\n      BEING A STORY FOR CHILDREN AND A PARABLE FOR MEN AND WOMEN.\n\n\nIn China, you must know, the Emperor is a Chinaman, and all whom he has\nabout him are Chinamen too. It happened a good many years ago, but\nthat\u2019s just why it\u2019s worth while to hear the story before it\u2019s\nforgotten! The Emperor\u2019s Palace was the most splendid in the World; it\nwas made entirely of porcelain, very costly, but so delicate and brittle\nthat one had to take care how one touched it. In the Garden were to be\nseen the most wonderful flowers, and to the costliest of them silver\nbells were tied, which sounded, so that nobody should pass by without\nnoticing the flowers. Yes, every thing in the Emperor\u2019s Garden was\nadmirably arranged. And it extended so far, that the Gardener himself\ndid not know where the end was. If a man went on and on, he came into a\nglorious forest with high trees and deep lakes. The wood extended\nstraight down to the sea, which was blue and deep; great vessels could\nsail beneath the branches of the trees, and in the trees lived a\nNightingale, which sang so splendidly that even the poor Fisherman, who\nhad many other things to do, stopped still and listened, when he had\ngone out at night to throw out his nets, and heard the Nightingale. \u201cHow\nbeautiful that is!\u201d he said; but he was obliged to attend to his\nproperty and thus forgot the bird. But when in the next night, the bird\nsang again and the Fisherman heard it, he exclaimed again, \u201cHow\nbeautiful that is!\u201d\n\nFrom all the countries of the World, Travellers came to the City of the\nEmperor and admired it, and the Palace and the Garden, but when they\nheard the song of the Nightingale, they said: \u201cThat is the best of all!\u201d\nAnd the Travellers told of it when they came home; and the learned men\nwrote many books about the Town, the Palace, and the Garden. But they\ndid not forget the Nightingale; that was placed highest of all; and\nthose who were Poets wrote most magnificent poems about the Nightingale\nin the wood, by the deep lake. The books went through all the World; and\na few of them once came to the Emperor. He sat in his golden chair, and\nread, and read; every moment he nodded his head, for it pleased him to\nperuse the masterly descriptions of the City, the Palace, and the\nGarden. \u201cBut the Nightingale is the best of all!\u201d it stood written\nthere. \u201cWhat\u2019s that? exclaimed the Emperor.\u201d \u201cI do not know the\nNightingale at all! Is there such a bird in my Garden? I\u2019ve never heard\nof that: to learn such a thing for the first time from books!\u201d And\nhereupon he called his Cavalier. This Cavalier was so grand that if any\none lower in rank than himself dared to speak to him, or to ask him any\nquestion, he answered nothing but P! and that meant nothing.\n\n[Illustration: Image of Garden]\n\n\u201cThere is said to be a wonderful bird here called a Nightingale!\u201d said\nthe Emperor. \u201cThey say it\u2019s the best thing in all my great Empire. Why\nhave I never heard any thing about it?\u201d \u201cI have never heard him named,\u201d\nreplied the Cavalier. \u201cHe has never been introduced at Court.\u201d \u201cI\ncommand that he shall appear this evening, and sing before me,\u201d said the\nEmperor. \u201cAll the world knows what I possess, and I do not know it\nmyself!\u201d \u201cI have never heard him mentioned,\u201d said the Cavalier. \u201cI will\nseek for him. I will find him.\u201d But where was he to be found? The\nCavalier ran up and down all the staircases, through halls and passages,\nbut no one among all those whom he met had heard talk of the\nNightingale. And the Cavalier ran back to the Emperor, and said that it\nmust be a fable invented by the writers of books. \u201cYour Imperial Majesty\ncannot believe how much is written that is fiction, and something that\nthey call the black art.\u201d \u201cBut the book in which I read this,\u201d said the\nEmperor, \u201cwas sent to me by the High and Mighty Emperor of Japan, and\ntherefore it cannot be a falsehood. I will hear the Nightingale! It must\nbe here this evening! It has my imperial favour! and if it does not\ncome, all the Court shall be trampled upon after the Court has supped!\u201d\n\u201cTsing-pe,\u201d said the Cavalier; and again he ran up and down all the\nstaircases, and through all the halls and corridors; and half the Court\nran with him, for the Courtiers did not like being trampled upon.\n\nThen there was a great inquiry after the wonderful Nightingale, which\nall the World knew, excepting the people at Court. At last they met with\na poor little Girl in the kitchen, who said, \u201cThe Nightingale? I know it\nwell; yes, it can sing gloriously. Every evening I get leave to carry my\npoor sick mother the scraps from the table. She lives down by the\nstrand, and when I get back and am tired, and rest in the wood, then I\nhear the Nightingale sing! And then the water comes into my eyes, and it\nis just as if my mother kissed me.\u201d \u201cLittle Kitchen-Girl,\u201d said the\nCavalier, \u201cI will get you a place in the kitchen, with permission to see\nthe Emperor dine, if you will lead us to the Nightingale, for it is\nannounced for this evening.\u201d\n\nSo they all went out into the wood where the Nightingale was accustomed\nto sing; half the Court went forth. When they were in the midst of their\njourney a cow began to low. \u201cOh!\u201d cried the court pages, \u201cnow we have\nit! That shows a wonderful power in so small a creature! I have\ncertainly heard it before.\u201d \u201cNo; those are cows lowing,\u201d said the little\nKitchen-Girl. \u201cWe are a long way from the place yet.\u201d Now the frogs\nbegan to quack in the marsh. \u201cGlorious!\u201d said the Chinese Court\nPreacher. \u201cNow I hear it: it sounds just like little church bells.\u201d \u201cNo;\nthose are frogs,\u201d said the little Kitchen-Maid. \u201cBut now I think we\nshall soon hear it.\u201d And then the Nightingale began to sing.\n\n[Illustration: Image of forest]\n\n\u201cThat is it!\u201d exclaimed the little Girl. \u201cListen, listen! and yonder it\nsits,\u201d and she pointed to a little gray bird up in the boughs. \u201cIs it\npossible?\u201d cried the Cavalier. \u201cI should never have thought it looked\nlike that. How simple it looks! It must certainly have lost its colour\nat seeing such grand people around.\u201d \u201cLittle Nightingale!\u201d called the\nlittle Kitchen-Girl, quite loudly, \u201cour gracious Emperor wishes you to\nsing before him.\u201d \u201cWith the greatest pleasure!\u201d replied the Nightingale,\nand began to sing most delightfully. \u201cIt sounds just like glass bells!\u201d\nsaid the Cavalier. \u201cAnd look at the little throat, how it\u2019s working!\nIt\u2019s wonderful that we should never have heard it before. That bird will\nbe a great success at Court.\u201d \u201cShall I sing once more before the\nEmperor?\u201d asked the Nightingale, for it thought the Emperor was present.\n\u201cMy excellent little Nightingale,\u201d said the Cavalier, \u201cI have great\npleasure in inviting you to a Court festival this evening, when you\nshall charm his Imperial Majesty with your beautiful singing.\u201d \u201cMy song\nsounds best in the green wood!\u201d replied the Nightingale; still it came\nwillingly when it heard what the Emperor wished.\n\nThe Palace was festively adorned. The walls and the flooring, which were\nof porcelain, gleamed in the rays of thousands of golden lamps. The most\nglorious flowers, which could ring clearly, had been placed in the\npassages. There was a running to and fro, and a through draught, and all\nthe bells rang so loudly that one could not hear one\u2019s self speak. In\nthe midst of the great hall, where the Emperor sat, a golden perch had\nbeen placed, on which the Nightingale was to sit. The whole Court was\nthere, and the little Cook-Maid had got leave to stand behind the door,\nas she had now received the title of a real Court cook. All were in full\ndress, and all looked at the little gray bird, to which the Emperor\nnodded.\n\nAnd the Nightingale sang so gloriously that the tears came into the\nEmperor\u2019s eyes. The tears ran down over his cheeks, and then the\nNightingale sang still more sweetly; that went straight to the heart.\nThe Emperor was so much pleased that he said the Nightingale should have\nhis golden slipper to wear round its neck. But the Nightingale declined\nthis with thanks, saying it had already received a sufficient reward. \u201cI\nhave seen tears in the Emperor\u2019s eyes; that is the real treasure to me!\nAn Emperor\u2019s tears have a peculiar power. I am rewarded enough.\u201d And\nthen it sang again with a sweet, glorious voice.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s the most amiable coquetry I ever saw!\u201d said the Ladies who stood\nround about, and then they took water in their mouths to gurgle when any\none spoke to them. They thought they should be nightingales too. And the\nlackeys and chambermaids reported that they were satisfied too; and that\nwas saying a good deal, for they are the most difficult to please. In\nshort the Nightingale achieved a real success. It was now to remain at\nCourt, to have its own cage, with liberty to go out twice every day and\nonce at night. Twelve servants were appointed when the Nightingale went\nout, each of whom had a silken string fastened to the bird\u2019s leg, and\nwhich they held very tight. There was really no pleasure in an excursion\nof that kind. The whole City spoke of the wonderful bird, and when two\npeople met, one said nothing but _Nightin_, and the other said _gale_;\nand then they sighed, and understood one another. Eleven pedlar\u2019s\nchildren were named after the bird, but not one of them could sing a\nnote.\n\nOne day the Emperor received a large parcel, on which was written \u201cThe\nNightingale.\u201d \u201cThere we have a new book about this celebrated bird,\u201d\nsaid the Emperor. But it was not a book, but a little work of art,\ncontained in a box; an artificial nightingale, which was to be like a\nnatural one, but was brilliantly ornamented with diamonds, rubies, and\nsapphires. So soon as the artificial bird was wound up, he could sing\none of the pieces that he really sang, and then his tail moved up and\ndown, and shone with silver and gold. Round his neck hung a little\nribbon, and on that was written, _The Emperor of Japan\u2019s nightingale is\npoor, compared to that of the Emperor of China._ \u201cThat is capital!\u201d said\nthey all, and he who had brought the artificial bird, immediately\nreceived the title, Imperial Head-Nightingale-Bringer. \u201cNow they must\nsing together; what a duet that will be!\u201d And so they had to sing\ntogether; but it did not go very well, for the real Nightingale sang in\nits own way, and the artificial bird sang waltzes. \u201cThat\u2019s not his\nfault,\u201d said the Playmaster, \u201che\u2019s quite perfect, and very much in my\nstyle.\u201d Now the artificial bird was to sing alone. He had just as much\nsuccess as the real one, and then it was much handsomer to look at; it\nshone like bracelets and breastpins. Three-and-thirty times over did it\nsing the same piece, and yet it was not tired. The people would gladly\nhave heard it again, but the Emperor said that the living Nightingale\nought to sing something now. But where was it? No one had noticed that\nit had flown away out of the open window, back to the green wood.\n\n\u201cBut what is that!\u201d said the Emperor. And all the courtiers abused the\nNightingale, and declared that it was a very ungrateful creature. \u201cWe\nhave the best bird after all,\u201d said they, and so the artificial bird had\nto sing again, and that was the thirty-fourth time that they listened to\nthe same piece. For all that they did not know it quite by heart, for it\nwas so very difficult, and the Playmaster praised the bird particularly;\nyes, he declared that it was better than a Nightingale, not only with\nregard to its plumage, and the many beautiful diamonds, but inside as\nwell. \u201cFor you see, ladies and gentlemen, and above all, your Imperial\nMajesty, with a real Nightingale one can never calculate what is coming,\nbut in this artificial bird every thing is settled. One can explain it;\none can open it and make people understand where the waltzes come from,\nhow they go, and how one follows upon another.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: Image of Court]\n\n\u201cThose are quite our own ideas,\u201d they all said, and the speaker received\npermission to show the bird to the people on the next Sunday. The people\nwere to hear it sing too, the Emperor commanded, and they did hear it,\nand were as much pleased as if they had all got tipsy upon tea, for\nthat\u2019s quite the Chinese fashion; and they all said \u201cOh!\u201d and held up\ntheir forefingers and nodded. But the poor Fisherman, who had heard the\nreal Nightingale, said, \u201cIt sounds pretty enough and the melodies\nresemble each other, but there\u2019s something wanting, and I know not\nwhat!\u201d The real Nightingale was banished from the country and Empire.\nThe artificial bird had its place on a silken cushion, close to the\nEmperor\u2019s bed; all the presents it had received, gold and precious\nstones, were ranged about; in title it had advanced to be the High\nImperial After-Dinner-Singer, and in rank to number one on the left\nhand; for the Emperor considered that side the most important on which\nthe heart is placed, and even in an Emperor the heart is on the left\nside; and the Playmaster wrote a work of five-and-twenty volumes about\nthe artificial bird; it was very learned and very long, full of the most\ndifficult Chinese words; but yet all the people declared that they had\nread it, and understood it, for fear of being considered stupid, and\nhaving their bodies trampled on. So a whole year went by. The Emperor,\nthe Court, and all the other Chinese knew every little twitter in the\nartificial bird\u2019s song, by heart. But just for that reason it pleased\nthem best; they could sing it with themselves, and they did so. The\nstreet-boys sang \u201cTsi-tsi-tsi-glug-glug,\u201d and the Emperor himself sung\nit too. Yes, that was certainly famous!\n\nBut one evening, when the artificial bird was singing its best, and when\nthe Emperor lay in bed listening to it, something inside the bird said\n\u201cWhiz!\u201d Something cracked. \u201cWhirr!\u201d All the wheels ran around, and then\nthe music stopped. The Emperor immediately sprang out of bed, and caused\nhis Body Physician to be called; but what could he do? Then they sent\nfor a Watchmaker, and after a good deal of talking and investigation,\nthe bird was put into something like order; but the Watchmaker said that\nthe bird must be carefully treated, for the barrels were worn, and it\nwould be impossible to put new ones in, in such a manner that the music\nwould go. There was a great lamentation; only once in a year was it\npermitted to let the bird sing, and that was almost too much. But then\nthe Playmaster made a little speech, full of heavy words, and said this\nwas just as good as before, and so of course it was as good as before.\n\nNow five years had gone by, and a real grief came upon the whole Nation.\nThe Chinese really were fond of their Emperor, and now he was ill, and\ncould not, it was said, live much longer. Already a new Emperor had been\nchosen, and the people stood out in the street and asked the Cavalier\nhow their old Emperor did. P! said he, and shook his head.\n\nCold and pale lay the Emperor in his great gorgeous bed; the whole Court\nthought him dead, and each one ran to pay homage to the new ruler. The\nChamberlains ran out to talk it over, and the Ladies\u2019 Maids had a great\ncoffee-party. All about, in all the halls and passages, cloth had been\nlaid down, so that no footstep could be heard, and therefore it was\nquiet there, quite quiet. But the Emperor was not dead yet; stiff and\npale he lay on the gorgeous bed with the long velvet curtains and the\nheavy gold tassels; high up, a window stood open, and the moon shone in\nupon the Emperor and the artificial bird.\n\nThe poor Emperor could scarcely breathe; it was just as if something lay\nupon his chest; he opened his eyes, and then he saw that it was Death,\nwho sat upon his chest, and had put on his golden crown, and held in one\nhand the Emperor\u2019s sword and in the other his beautiful banner. And all\naround, from among the folds of the splendid velvet curtains, strange\nheads peered forth; a few very ugly, the rest quite lovely and mild.\nThese were all the Emperor\u2019s bad and good deeds, that stood before him\nnow that Death sat upon his heart. \u201cDo you remember this?\u201d whispered one\nto the other. \u201cDo you remember that?\u201d and then they told him so much\nthat the perspiration ran from his forehead. \u201cI did not know that!\u201d said\nthe Emperor. \u201cMusic! music! the great Chinese drum!\u201d he cried, \u201cso that\nI need not hear all they say!\u201d and they continued speaking, and Death\nnodded like a Chinaman to all they said. \u201cMusic! music!\u201d cried the\nEmperor. \u201cYou little precious golden bird, sing, sing! I have given you\ngold and costly presents; I have even hung my golden slipper around your\nneck; sing, now, sing!\u201d But the bird stood still; no one was there to\nwind him up, and he could not sing without that; but Death continued to\nstare at the Emperor with his great hollow eyes, and it was quiet,\nfearfully quiet!\n\n[Illustration: Image of house]\n\nThen there sounded from the window, suddenly, the most lovely song. It\nwas the little live Nightingale, that sat outside on a spray. It had\nheard of the Emperor\u2019s sad plight and had come to sing to him of comfort\nand hope. And as it sung the spectres grew paler and paler; the blood\nran quicker and more quickly through the Emperor\u2019s weak limbs, and even\nDeath listened, and said, \u201cGo on, little Nightingale, go on!\u201d \u201cBut will\nyou give me that splendid golden sword? Will you give me that rich\nbanner? Will you give me the Emperor\u2019s crown?\u201d And Death gave up each of\nthese treasures for a song. And the Nightingale sang on and on; and it\nsung of the quiet Churchyard where the white roses grow, where the\nelder-blossom smells sweet, and where the fresh grass is moistened by\nthe tears of survivors. Then Death felt a longing to see his Garden, and\nfloated out at the window in the form of a cold white mist.\n\n\u201cThanks, thanks!\u201d said the Emperor. \u201cYou heavenly little bird! I know\nyou well! I banished you from my Country and Empire, and yet you have\ncharmed away the evil faces from my couch, and banished Death from my\nheart! How can I reward you?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have rewarded me,\u201d replied the Nightingale. \u201cI have drawn tears\nfrom your eyes, when I sang the first time; I shall never forget that.\nThese are the jewels that rejoice a singer\u2019s heart; but now sleep and\ngrow fresh and strong again; I will sing you something.\u201d And it sang,\nand the Emperor fell into a sweet slumber. Ah! how mild and refreshing\nthat sleep was. The sun shone upon him through the windows, when he\nawoke refreshed and restored; not one of his servants had yet returned,\nfor they all thought he was dead; only the Nightingale still sat beside\nhim and sang.\n\n\u201cYou must always stay with me,\u201d said the Emperor. \u201cYou shall sing as you\nplease; and I\u2019ll break the artificial bird into a thousand pieces.\u201d \u201cNot\nso,\u201d replied the Nightingale. \u201cIt did well so long as it could; keep it\nas you have done till now. I cannot build my nest in the Palace to dwell\nin it, but let me come when I feel the wish; then I will sit in the\nevening on the spray yonder by the window, and sing you something so\nthat you may be glad and thoughtful at once. And I will sing of those\nwho are happy, and of those who suffer. I will sing of good and of evil\nthat remains hidden round about you. The little singing-bird flies far\naround, to the poor Fisherman, to the Peasant\u2019s roof, to every one who\ndwells far away from you and from your Court. I love your heart more\nthan your crown, and yet the crown has an air of sanctity about it; I\ncome, I shall sing to you; but one thing you must promise me.\u201d \u201cEvery\nthing!\u201d said the Emperor; and he stood there in his imperial robes,\nwhich he had put on himself, and pressed the sword which was heavy with\ngold to his heart.\n\n\u201cOne thing I beg of you; tell no one that you have a little bird that\ntells you everything. Then it will go all the better.\u201d And the\nNightingale flew away. The servants came in to look to their dead\nEmperor\u2014and\u2014yes, there they stood, and the Emperor said, \u201cGood-morning.\u201d\n\n\n                                The End\n\n\n                  ARRANGED AND PRINTED BY D. B. UPDIKE\n                          The Merrymount Press\n                AT 104 CHESTNUT STREET, BOSTON, U. S. A.\n\n\n\n\n                           Transcriber\u2019s Note\n\n\nSome corrections have been made, including fixing punctuation. The\nfollowing correction has been made to the text:\n\n p. 7: And look at the little throat, how its working -> And look at the\n    little throat, how it\u2019s working","title":"The nightingale","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":3774}