H. C. Andersen

“ The real Nightingale was banished from the country and Empire. The artificial bird had its place on a silken cushion, close to the Emperor’s bed; all the presents it had received, gold and precious stones, were ranged about; in title it had 12advanced to be the High Imperial After-Dinner-Singer, and in rank to number one on the left hand; for the Emperor considered that side the most important on which the heart is placed, and even in an Emperor the heart is on the left side; and the Playmaster wrote a work of five-and-twenty volumes about the artificial bird ”

“ But when in the next night, the bird sang again and the Fisherman heard it, he exclaimed again, “How beautiful that is!”
2From all the countries of the World, Travellers came to the City of the Emperor and admired it, and the Palace and the Garden, but when they heard the song of the Nightingale, they said: “That is the best of all!” And the Travellers told of it when they came home; and the learned men wrote many books about the Town, the Palace, and the Garden. But they did not forget the Nightingale ”

“ It must certainly have lost its colour at seeing such grand people around.” “Little Nightingale!” called the little Kitchen-Girl, quite loudly, “our gracious Emperor wishes you to sing before him.” “With the greatest pleasure!” replied the Nightingale, and began to sing most delightfully. “It sounds just like glass bells!” said the Cavalier. “And look at the little 7throat, how it’s working! It’s wonderful that we should never have heard it before. That bird will be a great success at Court.” “Shall I sing once more before the Emperor?” ”

“ One can explain it; one can open it and make people understand where the waltzes come from, how they go, and how one follows upon another.”
“Those are quite our own ideas,” they all said, and the speaker received permission to show the bird to the people on the next Sunday. ”