The Nightingale

このストーリーについて

The Nightingale is a fairy tale by the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen, published in 1843 and set at an imaginary Chinese emperor's court. The emperor loves a plain little forest bird, is dazzled by a jewelled clockwork one, and is saved on his sickbed by the real nightingale's song. This bedtime version keeps all the main beats and the comedy of a courtier mistaking a cow for the bird, and plays Death as a quiet, cool shadow rather than a frightening one.

読み聞かせのコツ

• Moo like the cow, then whistle like the nightingale, and let your child say which is which.
• Ask which bird they would rather have, the plain real one or the shiny golden one, and why.
• Keep Death soft and slow, and let the nightingale's song gently send him away.

よくある質問

What is the moral of The Nightingale?

Real, living beauty is worth more than glittering imitations, and true friendship forgives. The nightingale returns to save the emperor who once banished it.

Was The Nightingale inspired by Jenny Lind?

Many biographers think so. Andersen fell in love with the Swedish soprano Jenny Lind, nicknamed the Swedish Nightingale, around 1843, the year he wrote the story, though she never returned his feelings.

Is The Nightingale set in China?

Yes. Andersen set it at the court of an emperor of China, though it is a fairy-tale China of porcelain palaces rather than a real historical one. The clockwork bird is a gift from the Emperor of Japan.