That Chinese nightingale
Li Li
Nightingale is Andersen's only fairy tale set in China.
In this fairy tale, the song of an inconspicuous nightingale brings tears to the eyes of the Chinese emperor, but the nightingale who has lost its freedom cannot sing freely, it has to live in the palace, only the freedom to go out twice during the day and once at night, and each time there are always 12 servants who follow, who hold a silk thread tied to its leg, always pulling very tightly, and this life is the same as that of being locked in a cage. At this time, the Emperor of Japan sent a nightingale, which is a man-made craft, full of diamonds, carnelian and jasper, exactly like the real nightingale, as long as the clockwork is good, it will sing the song sung by the real nightingale. The Emperor wanted the two birds to sing in unison, but this would not work, because the real Nightingale was just singing it the way it was. So the artificial bird had to sing alone, and when people went to listen to the beautiful fake nightingale sing the same tune over and over again, no one noticed that the real nightingale had flown out of the window and back into its verdant woods.
The artificial nightingale has since won the highest honor and national attention, but unfortunately, a year later, the artificial nightingale can sing the tune, and even the people who listen to it can recite it; subsequently, the clockwork in its body is also broken, barely repaired, and it can only be sung once a year. After another five years, the emperor was also ill, dying, and in the face of death, he called for the artificial nightingale to sing for him, but the artificial bird could not move because it was not well clockworked. It was at this time that there was a most beautiful song at the window, and that was the little, living nightingale, perched on a branch outside, and came at this very moment to sing some song of consolation and hope to the emperor. Sure enough, with its singing, the emperor's weak limbs regained their strength and their consciousness was awakened. The Grim Reaper who had been waiting beside him turned into a cold white mist and disappeared from the window. At the end of the story, the little singing bird still has to go far, free, unwilling to build a trap in the palace, and it also wants the emperor to promise it one thing: don't tell anyone that he has a bird that can talk about his heart, only in this way will everything be beautiful.
Hans Christian Andersen has never experienced China, and the fairy tale about China, "Nightingale", comes from his imagination of the mysterious East. The story describes a Chinese world that exists in Western fantasy: the emperor's palace is the most gorgeous in the world, completely made of fine and brittle tiles, sparkling in the light of countless golden lamps, the royal garden can see the world's rarest flowers, those most precious flowers are tied with silver bells, rolled up a breeze, all the silver bells are jingling and jingling - this is almost all the Imagination of the West for China, exquisite and delicate, golden splendor, rich and luxurious...
But compared with all this pearlescent treasure, the most beautiful thing in the royal garden is actually the nightingale, a gray and inconspicuous bird, but the emperor himself does not know, and the world will only be confused by appearance, they are accustomed to a plate and eye, decent tunes, do not recognize the value of free singing, natural sounds of true nightingale. The main tone of "Nightingale" is actually a sad story, light and sad. People want to possess the good, and people who already have everything want to plunder it all, but they don't know what is really good. The most precious flowers were transplanted to the palace and tied with silver bells, and after several twists and turns to find the nightingale, the nightingale was treated as a prisoner of wealth. The Nightingale did not covet wealth, and it stayed in the palace for the time being, only because it regarded the tears shed by the emperor when he heard the song as the most precious thing. When the mechanical nightingale appeared and took away people's attention, the real nightingale was forgotten, and it did not hold a grudge, but spread its wings and flew back to its green woods. Later, the emperor fell seriously ill, and nightingale went to fly and make a deal with death to save the king--even death was willing to hand over precious things in exchange for a beautiful song. After rescuing the emperor, the nightingale from the forest did not ask the emperor for any reward, and its kind heart even prevented the emperor from "tearing the artificial nightingale into a thousand pieces." Its only hope is to return it to nature and sing for all who need it, including the emperor. The Nightingale loves everyone equally, from the emperor to the fisherman to the kitchen maid, it is a selfless, pure singer, as long as someone is its confidant, no matter what the status, the Nightingale is willing to be his friend, willing to comfort him with song. Nightingales sing best only in the green woods, because nightingales express unfettered hearts, and nightingales' songs are beautiful only when they are free and simple.
I like this "Nightingale" very, very much, the emperor of the world, with countless rare treasures, however, the nightingale is the "most beautiful thing of all things" in the kingdom. This story is about entering and coming out of the world, about the glory and indifference, about the poor and the rich, about good and evil, about the beauty of nature that cannot be imprisoned. Andersen was an insight into society and human nature, a thinker who worried about the tendency of mankind to ignore and forget "nature." His talent was conceived from a kind disposition and a deep gaze at beauty, a moonlit quiet and idyllic energy—composed of tenderness and virtue that poured out of compassion for the world, love for the living, compassion for the grass and trees.
Writing this, I really want to hear the singing voice of the nightingale, hear the whining warbler in a tall building, and pour out the sorrow in the dark night, there will be a wonderful feeling, just like the poet's dream. But at this time, the branches of the northern city where I am located have not yet sprouted, which branch can accommodate this bird?