yellow fairy tale book

Chapter 44 Nightingale (2)

One day, the emperor received a big package with the word "Nightingale" written on it.

"Here comes another book, which must be about our famous bird!" said the emperor.

Unexpectedly, it was not a book, but a small mechanical toy in a box—it was an artificial nightingale, exactly like the real nightingale, except that it was studded with diamonds, rubies and sapphires.It could sing a song of a real nightingale once it was wound up, and it could move its tail up and down and flash gold and silver.Around its neck is a collar that reads "Insignificant compared to the Emperor of China's Nightingale - Presented by the Emperor of Japan".

"It's a beautiful bird!" everyone said, and the person who brought the artificial nightingale was immediately named the "Chief Envoy to Dedicate the Nightingale".

"Now they can sing together, we have a duet!"

So they sang together, but their voices did not mix: the real nightingale sang in her own way, but the clockwork nightingale could only sing a waltz.

"It's not its fault!" said the court musician, "it sings very well, very close to my style!"

So the Emperor let the Clockwork Nightingale sing alone.It is as lovely as a real nightingale, and it sparkles like bracelets and necklaces, it is much more beautiful than a real nightingale, and it can sing the same song 33 times without tire.Everyone wanted to keep listening, but the emperor wanted to hear the real nightingale sing—where did it go?No one noticed that it flew out of the window and returned to the green woods.

"How can this be done!" said the emperor.

Everyone in the palace scolded Nightingale for being ungrateful. "But we still have the best bird yet!" they said, and they made the Artificial Nightingale sing again, and they had heard the same song thirty-four times, but they had not remembered it, it was so difficult.The musician was full of praise for it, and he told people that the artificial nightingale was better than the real nightingale, not only had beautiful feathers and diamonds on its body, but also had beautiful tunes in its belly. "Your Majesty the Emperor, ladies and gentlemen, you will never guess what the real nightingale will sing next time, but everyone knows exactly what the artificial nightingale will sing. You know exactly what it will sing, and you You can open it up and show everyone how the waltz is played, and how one sentence is followed by another!"

"That's exactly what we think!" everyone said, and the emperor gave permission for the musicians to exhibit the artificial nightingales to the common people next Sunday.The emperor ordered that all the people in the city come to listen to it sing.They really all came to listen, and they were very happy to listen, as refreshing as drinking tea-Chinese people all have a hobby of drinking tea, and they all said: "Drink!" Then they flicked their index fingers and shook their heads to pass the time.But the poor fisherman who had heard the real nightingale sing said, "This nightingale sings well, but there seems to be something missing, and I can't tell what it is!"

The True Nightingale was expelled from China in this way.

The artificial nightingale was placed on a silk cushion beside the imperial bed, and all the gifts given to it, as well as gold and precious stones, were displayed around it. Nobility, that is on the side of the heart, and the emperor's heart is also on the left.

The musician wrote a 25-volume masterpiece on artificial birds, which is written in eloquence and full of esoteric Chinese characters.Everyone said that they had read the book and understood it very well, because once the emperor knew they didn't understand, they would be punished.In this way, a whole year passed, and the emperor, courtiers, and all the Chinese could recite every note sung by the artificial bird.Just because they could recite it, they liked the bird even more, and they could even sing along to it.The children in the streets and alleys were singing: "La-la-la-la," and the Emperor sometimes sang it.It is indeed a pleasure to sing like this.

But one night, the artificial bird was singing happily, and the emperor was listening to it while lying on the bed. Suddenly, there was a crackling sound in the bird's stomach, and then there was a whistling sound, all the wheels stopped spinning, and the music stopped.The emperor jumped up and went to the imperial doctor, but what could the imperial doctor do with it!So he called the watchmaker again.The watchmaker spent a lot of effort and finally repaired the artificial bird, but he said that he should use it as little as possible in the future, because the parts inside are almost worn out, and it is impossible to reassemble new ones, so this artificial bird It can only be sung once a year, and even once it is beyond its capacity.This is really bad news!But then the musician made a short speech, very impassioned, that the bird was as good as ever.No doubt, after he said that, people thought it was as good as ever.

Five years passed in a flash.One day, great sorrow fell over the country.The Chinese regard the emperor above all else, but now he is ill and is said to be dying soon.

A new emperor has been chosen.The common people stood on the street outside the gate of the imperial palace, asking the steward about the condition of the old emperor, but he shook his head and said "Bah".

The emperor with a pale face and a cold body was lying on a gorgeous big bed. Everyone in the palace thought he was dead and left him one by one to curry favor with the new emperor.The floor of the main hall and corridors was covered with cloth, and no footsteps could be heard when one stepped on it. The palace was completely silent—it couldn’t be more silent, and there was nothing to break this silence.

The emperor wanted something to break the dead silence, if only someone could talk to him, or sing!Music will take away his troubles and break the spell of death.The window was open, and the moonlight poured in like water, but it was also silent.

"Play music! Play music!" cried the Emperor. "Golden bird, sing, sing! I gave you gold and jewels, and I hung my golden slippers around your neck with my own hands—sing, sing!" But the little bird It doesn't ring either - no one comes to wind it, it can't sing anything.There was still silence, terrible silence!
Suddenly, there was a gentle singing sound outside the window. It turned out that the little living nightingale sang on the branch outside the window. It heard the emperor's call and came to sing for him specially, letting the singing give him comfort and hope.As it sang, the blood in the emperor's weak limbs flowed faster and faster, and the disease was cured!
"Thank you, thank you!" said the emperor. "You holy bird! I still know you and you brought me back to life! How can I repay you?"

"You have repaid me!" said the Nightingale. "You shed tears the first time I sang, and I will never forget that moment. Those tears are like jewels, and can make a singer's heart shine. Now you sleep Now, you need to regain your energy, and I will sing you a lullaby." So the nightingale sang, and the emperor fell asleep after listening to it, and slept peacefully.

As the sunlight streamed in through the window, the Emperor awoke to find himself as healthy as ever.None of the servants returned to him, they thought he was dead, only the nightingale sang to him by his side.

"This time you will live with me no matter what!" said the Emperor. "You can sing whenever you like. I will smash the artificial bird to pieces."

"Don't do that!" said Nightingale. "It's done its best, keep it with you! I can't make a nest in the palace, but you can let me come whenever you want. I'll sing to you at night on the branch that falls outside the window." A song to make you happy. I will sing of joy and pain, I will sing of good and evil that you don't know. I will fly all over the country, to poor fishermen's houses, farmers' houses, and everywhere far from the palace .I love your glorious crown, but I love your heart even more. I'll sing to you again, but you promise me one thing—"

"Thousands and thousands of pieces will do!" said the Emperor, who had stood up in his dragon robe, and hung up the gold-encrusted sword.

"I only ask you one thing: don't tell anyone, there is a little bird who has told you everything. You can do no wrong!" Then the nightingale flew away.

After a while, the servants came in to see their dead emperor, but the emperor said to them, "Good morning!"

(End of this chapter)