THE EMPEROR’S NIGHTINGALE

The Emperor of China lived in a beautiful palace with a large forest all around it.
The Emperor's palace was the wonder of the world. He liked to read books people
wrote about his palace.

One day, the Emperor of China gets a new book about his palace and he reads it.

What’s this? A nightingale? In my forest?’ said the Emperor.

The emperor is angry because he didn’t know about it. He tells his men to go into
the forest to find the nightingale.

As they are walking in the forest, they suddenly hear a beautiful song.

“There it is. It is sitting in the tree.” said one of the men.

They take the nightingale to the emperor and it sings for him. The nightingale sang
so sweetly that tears came into the Emperor's eyes and rolled down his cheeks.
Then the nightingale sang still more sweetly, and it was the Emperor's heart that
melted. He loves the nightingale’s song and asks it to stay and sing for him every
day.

One day, he gets a mechanical nightingale from the Emperor of Japan. Everyone
loves the new nightingale because it can sing and it’s got diamonds on it, too. The
real nightingale hasn’t got diamonds on it. It is sad and leaves.
Many years go by. The emperor is happy with the new mechanical nightingale. But
one night, while the mechanical nightingale was singing his best by the Emperor's
bed, something inside the bird broke with a twang. All the wheels ran down and
the music stopped. The emperor is very sad and becomes ill. Suddenly, through the
window came a burst of song. It was the little live nightingale who sat outside on a
spray. He had heard of the Emperor's plight, and had come to sing of comfort and
hope. The emperor is very happy to see the nightingale again.

Though the emperor banishes the nightingale

in preference for a jeweled mechanical imitation
the little bird remains faithful
returns years later
to comfort the emperor.

Moral of the story is we should always appreciate the beauty of nature and never
disgrace others’ flaws.