
"According to the story's narrator, the emperor had built for himself a palace that "was the wonder of the world" and enclosed it within a garden in which "the rarest flowers bloomed." In that garden, "all things were arranged according to plan," and so it came as a surprise to the emperor to learn that a beautiful bird, " the best of all," resided in the garden and that he knew nothing of it."
"And, after persuading her to leave her home and go with him to see the emperor, the advisor returned triumphant, introducing the royal court to music more enchanting than any had heard before. Indeed, the bird's song was so moving that it brought the emperor to tears, and he begged her to stay and sing for him whenever he wanted."
A magnificent emperor created a perfectly ordered palace and garden, yet a hidden nightingale in that garden remained unknown to him. The emperor longed to hear the bird and sent his advisor, who, aided by a child, found and persuaded the nightingale to visit court. The bird's singing enthralled the court, moved the emperor to tears, and earned her a place singing on command. These events contrast authentic natural gifts and human feeling with the lure of artificial substitutes, suggesting that technological wonders and courtly presents cannot replace genuine beauty, empathy, and healing.
Read at Psychology Today
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