Hans Christian Andersen: The Nightingale
The Nightingale
by
Hans Christian Andersen
(1844)
N China, you know, the emperor is a<br>Chinese, and all those about him are Chinamen also. The story I am going<br>to tell you happened a great many years ago, so it is well to hear it now<br>before it is forgotten. The emperor’s palace was the most beautiful in<br>the world. It was built entirely of porcelain, and very costly, but so<br>delicate and brittle that whoever touched it was obliged to be careful.<br>In the garden could be seen the most singular flowers, with pretty silver<br>bells tied to them, which tinkled so that every one who passed could not<br>help noticing the flowers. Indeed, everything in the emperor’s garden was<br>remarkable, and it extended so far that the gardener himself did not know<br>where it ended. Those who travelled beyond its limits knew that there was<br>a noble forest, with lofty trees, sloping down to the deep blue sea, and<br>the great ships sailed under the shadow of its branches. In one of these<br>trees lived a nightingale, who sang so beautifully that even the poor<br>fishermen, who had so many other things to do, would stop and listen.<br>Sometimes, when they went at night to spread their nets, they would hear<br>her sing, and say, “Oh, is not that beautiful?” But when they returned to<br>their fishing, they forgot the bird until the next night. Then they would<br>hear it again, and exclaim “Oh, how beautiful is the nightingale’s song!”
Travellers from every country in the world came to the city of the<br>emperor, which they admired very much, as well as the palace and gardens;<br>but when they heard the nightingale, they all declared it to be the best<br>of all. And the travellers, on their return home, related what they had<br>seen; and learned men wrote books, containing descriptions of the town,<br>the palace, and the gardens; but they did not forget the nightingale,<br>which was really the greatest wonder. And those who could write poetry<br>composed beautiful verses about the nightingale, who lived in a forest<br>near the deep sea. The books travelled all over the world, and some of<br>them came into the hands of the emperor; and he sat in his golden chair,<br>and, as he read, he nodded his approval every moment, for it pleased him<br>to find such a beautiful description of his city, his palace, and his<br>gardens. But when he came to the words, “the nightingale is the most<br>beautiful of all,” he exclaimed, “What is this? I know nothing of any<br>nightingale. Is there such a bird in my empire? and even in my garden? I<br>have never heard of it. Something, it appears, may be learnt from books.”
Then he called one of his lords-in-waiting, who was so high-bred, that<br>when any in an inferior rank to himself spoke to him, or asked him a<br>question, he would answer, “Pooh,” which means nothing.
“There is a very wonderful bird mentioned here, called a nightingale,”<br>said the emperor; “they say it is the best thing in my large kingdom. Why<br>have I not been told of it?”
“I have never heard the name,” replied the cavalier; “she has not been<br>presented at court.”
“It is my pleasure that she shall appear this evening.” said the emperor;<br>“the whole world knows what I possess better than I do myself.”
“I have never heard of her,” said the cavalier; “yet I will endeavor to<br>find her.”
But where was the nightingale to be found? The nobleman went up stairs<br>and down, through halls and passages; yet none of those whom he met had<br>heard of the bird. So he returned to the emperor, and said that it must<br>be a fable, invented by those who had written the book. “Your imperial<br>majesty,” said he, “cannot believe everything contained in books;<br>sometimes they are only fiction, or what is called the black art.”
“But the book in which I have read this account,” said the emperor, “was<br>sent to me by the great and mighty emperor of Japan, and therefore it<br>cannot contain a falsehood. I will hear the nightingale, she must be here<br>this evening; she has my highest favor; and if she does not come, the<br>whole court shall be trampled upon after supper is ended.”
“Tsing-pe!” cried the lord-in-waiting, and again he ran up and down<br>stairs, through all the halls and corridors; and half the court ran with<br>him, for they did not like the idea of being trampled upon. There was a<br>great inquiry about this wonderful nightingale, whom all the world knew,<br>but who was unknown to the court.
At last they met with a poor little girl in the kitchen, who said, “Oh,<br>yes, I know the nightingale quite well; indeed, she can sing. Every<br>evening I have permission to take home to my poor sick mother the scraps<br>from the table; she lives down by the sea-shore, and as I come back I<br>feel tired, and I sit down in the wood to rest, and listen to the<br>nightingale’s song. Then the tears come into my eyes, and it is just as<br>if my mother kissed me.”
“Little maiden,” said the lord-in-waiting, “I will obtain for you<br>constant employment in the kitchen, and you shall have permission to see<br>the emperor dine, if you will lead us to the...