20 MY NIGHTINGALE.

before—a nightingale, So he sent his
courtiers to ask the nightingale to sing to
him, and when he heard the bird he was
so enchanted that he showed it all pos-
sible honour, and no one in China talked
of anything else but this songster of the |
woods. In fact, when the nightingale
sang, tears stood in the emperor’s eyes;
and what more could a bird desire? But
one day an artificial nightingale, studded
with jewels, was sent to the emperor,
which, when wound up, could sing a
tune. And the emperor was so delighted
that he forgot his old favourite and
banished the bird from the country, while
the artificial bird took its place in the
emperor's and every one’s heart. Oh, how
sad it was! The artificial bird could only
sing one tune, but no one wearied of it,
till at last one day something went wrong
inside it, and it broke. They repaired it
as well as possible, but it was only allowed