夜莺
In China you know very well，of course，the Emperor is Chinese and all those about him are Chinese also．It happened many years ago，but just for that very reason the story is worth hearing before it is forgotten．The Emperor’S palace was the most gorgeous in the world；it was built entire—ly of the finest porcelain and was very costly，but SO brittle that one had always to take particular care not to touch it．In the garden were the most wonderful flowers，and to the most beautiful of them were tied silver bells which rang wherever anybody passed by lest they should miss seeing theflowers．Yes，everything in the Emperor’S garden was extremely beauti—ful，and the garden itself stretched SO far that the gardener himself did not knOW where it ended．
If one walked far in it，one came to the loveliest wood，with loftytrees and deep lakes．The wood ran down to the sea，which was deep andblue；large ships could sail under the branches and in one of these bran—ches dwelt a nightingale which sang SO sweetly that even the poor fisher—man，who had many other things to attend to，would stop to listen whenhe went out at night to drag up his nets．“How beautiful it is！”he said．but then he had to see to other things and SO forgot the bird．Yet，nextnight，when it sang again，and the fisherman came thither，he was sure tOsay the same thing：“How beautiful it is！”
Travelers canle from all parts of the world to see and admire the Em—peror’S city and the palace and the garden．But when then heard the nightingale they said，“Yes，that is better than all！”
And the travelers when they got home related what they had seen，and the learned wrote many books about the city and the palace and the graden．But they did not forget the nightingale；indeed，they put that first，and those who could write poetry penned the loveliest verses about the nightingale in the wood by the deep blue lake．
These books went the round of the world and some of them in coursed of time reached the Emperor．He sat on his gold throne and read and read．Every moment he nodded his head，for it pleased him to read the fine deions of the city，and the palace and the garden．“But when all is said，the nightingale is still the best of all！”said the books．
“Why，what is this？”said the Emperor，“the nightingale！I do not know of any nightingale！I had no idea there was such a bird in my kingdom，let aione in my very garden！Must one learn such things from books？This must be looked into．”
So he called his lord—in—waiting．who was SO very grand that whenever any one lower in rank than himself presumed to speak to him or to ask a question he only answered，“P！”which meant nothing at a11．
“There is said to be a very remarkable bird called a nightingale！”the Emperor informed him，“people declare that it is the finest thing in my vast realm．Why have I not been told about it？’’
“I have never heard it SO much as mentioned before，’replied the lord—waiting，“it has never been presented at Court！”“I c。mmand it to come here mis very evening and sing tothe Emperor．“Why，the whole world knows what I possess and yet I don’t know it！”
“I never heard the name of it before！”said the lord—in—waiting，“but 1 will have inquiries made and find it！”
But where was it to be found？The lord—in—waiting ran up and down all the staircases in the palace and through all the rooms and corri—dors，but of the people he met not one knew about the nightingale．So thelord—in—waiting canle back to the Emperor and said the whole thing must be a fable invented by those who wrote books．“Your Imperial Maj—esty must not believe what you find written there．It is all invention and something else which they call the Black Art！”
‘‘But the book in which I read this was sent to me by the high and mighty Emperor of Japan，”said the Emperor，“and therefore it cannot bean untruth．1 wish to hear the nightingale！It must be here this evening！I accord it my most gracious favor！And if it does not come the wholeCourt shall be trampled on directly it has eaten its supper！”
“Tsing—pe”said the lord—in—waiting．and again he ran up anddown all the stairs，through all the rooms and corridors，and half the Courtran with him，for they did not like the idea of being trampled on．Therewas a universal inquiry about the wonderful nightingale which was knowntO all the rest of the world but to nobody at Court．
At last they found a poor little girl in the kitchen and she said，“What！The nightingale！Why，I know it quite well！Sing？I shouldthink SO！Every evening I take the dinner—leavings to my poor sickmother who lives by the sea—shore，and when I am coming back and alTlfired and rest in the wood I hear the nightingale sing．and then the tears come into my eyes and it is just as if my mother were kissing me！”
“Little scullery—maid！”said the lord—in—waiting“I will get you a permanent situation in the kitchen，with permission to see the Emperor eat，if you well lead US to the nightingale，for it is to have all audience this evening．’’
So they went together to the wood where the nightingale was wont to sing．Half the Court was there．As they picked their way along a cow began to low．
“Oh！”said the lord—in—waiting，“now we have it！That is really a remarkable power for SO small an animal！Of course，we have heard it before．We remember it distinctly！”
“No！that is the lowing of the COWS！”said the little scullery—maid；“we are still a long way from the place！”
And now the flogs croaked in the marshes．
“Pretty！”said the Chinese Court chaplain，“now I hear it；it’S just like tiny temple bells．’’
“Nay，those are the flogs！”said the little scullery—maid，“but I think we shall hear it very soon．’’
Then the nightingale began to sing．
“That’S it！”said the little girl．“Listen！Listen！And look！There it sits．”And she pointed to a little gray bird in the branches．
“Is it possible！”said the lord—in—waiting．“I never imagined it was like that！How very simple it looks！It is a little off color．no doubt，at being visited by SO many distinguished persons！”
“Little nightingale！”cried the scullery—maid loudly．“our gracious Emperor wants you to sing to him SO much！”
“With the greatest pleasure！”said the nightingale，and sang SO that。it was delight to listen．