The World of Fairy Tales. The Ultramarine Book / Мир волшебных сказок. Синяя книга. Книга для чтения на английском языке - стр. 4

The little Mermaid knew that all her efforts were in vain. So she walked into the sea and her body turned into foam. The kind prince and his bride spent hours looking for the silent beauty. They missed their good friend who came mysteriously to their lives and just mysteriously disappeared forever.

This news reached the ears of the Emperor himself. He flew in rage and demanded to take this creature to the palace. In a flash his servants rushed to the ancient tree ready to catch and bring the magical bird to the emperor's hall. Very soon a cage with a little grey bird was placed in front of him and the plain creature started to sing.

The song of the nightingale was so sweet that our rough Emperor burst into tears immediately. The birds voice touched everyones heart and the nightingale became a star.

All citizens only talked about the magical bird and he became the main sight of the country.

One day, the Emperor received a big parcel with a mechanical nightingale inside. It sang like a real nightingale and was covered with diamonds, rubies and sapphires. The Emperor decided to compare which of them was better. But the duet sounded quite wrong because the real nightingale sang from natural inspiration and couldn’t match the artificial toy.

The mechanical bird could sing for many hours without becoming bit tired. The silly Emperor chose a toy and ordered to chase the real nightingale away. Every day the Emperor enjoyed listening to wonderful songs. He couldn’t imagine his evening before going to bed without these concerts. One evening listening to his favourite song he suddenly heard some crack and his beloved bird stopped to sing forever.

After this terrible event the Emperor’s life changed completely. He couldn’t sleep and eat, he even fell ill and was going to die. The old Emperor lay pale and cold in his bed. He opened his eyes and saw Death. The frightened Emperor understood that it was his end when he suddenly heard a delightful song.

It was the little nightingale from the park who sat trilling on a branch. The nice creature sang so beautifully that in a flash the Emperor forgot about his death and illness completely. The old man was full of energy. The happy Emperor burst into tears but they were tears of happiness and pleasure.

The grateful Emperor understood his mistake and asked the bird to forgive him. The kind bird only wanted to make people happy singing her songs and the Emperor’s tears of happiness were the main reward.