THE EMPEROR'S NIGHTINGALE

THE EMPEROR'S NIGHTINGALE

Hans Christian Anderson

Many years ago, there was an Emperor who lived in the most splendid palace in the most beautiful city in China. Everything in the palace was made of delicate porcelain. Outside, near the palace, the loveliest flowers grew in a very large garden.

Deep in this very large garden was a forest of tall trees and clears, blue lakes. The forest stretched for many miles, and in it lived a nightingale. From its home in the forest, the nightingale sang so sweetly that everyone who heard it would stop what they were doing. They would listen to the song, and all would say the same thing: "what a beautiful song!"

Now the Emperor was very proud of his city, his palace, and his garden, and he was greatly pleased when travelers came from everywhere to admire them. These travelers, when they returned home, wrote many books and poems about the magnificent city, the porcelain palace, the lovely garden, and the nightingale that sang so beautifully.

People from all over the world had read the books and poems, but the emperor had never read any of them. Then one day it happened that one of the books was brought to his attention. He sat down at once to read the lovely descriptions of his city, his palace, and his garden. As he was reading, he came to this statement: "the song of the nightingale is the loveliest of all."

The emperor had never heard of the nightingale until he read that statement. "What nightingale?" he cried. "How could that be a nightingale that sings in my garden when I had never heard it?"

Immediately, the emperor summoned his court attendants. "Why has no one ever told me about this wonderful singing bird?" he asked. "Bring it to me and let the bird sing for me this evening."

But the court attendants had never heard the bird, and not one of them even knew anything about it. They searched every room in the palace, looking for someone who had heard the nightingale.

The search was in vain until at last, in the kitchen, they asked a girl who was busily scrubbing pots and pans. "Of course I know the nightingale!" she exclaimed. "I know it very well."

Gladly, the girl agreed to take the court attendants to the forest. They walk through the lovely flower in the garden, and just they entered the tall trees, the nightingale began to sing. The attendants listened in amazement. Never before had they hear such music.

"Little nightingale," call the kitchen maid, "our most gracious emperor would like very much for you to sing for him."

"With the greatest pleasure," answered the nightingale. "My song sounds best in the forest, but i shall willingly follow you to the palace."

The whole court was present in the great hall of the palace. The emperor nodded, and the nightingale began to sing. it sang so sweetly and beautifully that tears came into the emperor's eyes.

"Stay with us, little nightingale," the emperor cried, "and you shall have everything that you desire."

"I will stay," said the nightingale, "but I am rewarded enough. I have seen tears in the emperor's eyes."

So the nightingale stayed at the palace. It lived in a splendid cage and was given everything it desired. Then, one day, a package marked "the nightingale arrived. When it was opened, it was found to contain a beautifully made mechanical bird, covered with diamonds and precious stones. When it was wound up, the mechanical bird sang one of the songs that the real nightingale sang.

"Oh, this is splendid!" cried the ladies and gentlemen of the court. The emperor was also delighted and called for the mechanical bird to sing again and again. no one noticed the real nightingale as it flew out through an open window and started on its way back to the forest.

Five years passed, and the mechanical bird sang every day. Each time it was wound up, it sang the same song in exactly the same way.

Then suddenly, a great sorrow came to the city. The emperor became seriously ill, and the court doctors said he was close to death. As they leaned over the dying emperor, the doctors heard him wisher, "music! Music! Make the mechanical golden bird sing."

The doctors wound up the bird, but something inside it went "clunk!" something else went "whirr-r-r-r!!" the bird stopped singing, and no one could repair its delicate machinery.

Now, just when it seemed that nothing could be done to save the emperor, there sounded the most delightful song. It was the real nightingale. it had heard the emperor's illness and had come to sing him a song of comfort and hope.

Through the night, the nightingale sang on and on. The songs cheered the emperor, and he felt his strength returning.

"Thank you, little nightingale," said the emperor. "We drove you from the palace with our mechanical bird, but you returned and saved my life. You must stay with me always. You shall sing only when you please, and I shall break the mechanical golden bird into a thousand pieces."

"No," said the nightingale. "Don’t destroy the mechanical bird. It sang the best it could for as long as it could. As for me, I cannot live in the palace, but I will come to visit you every night. I will sit on a bough outside your window and sing.

With that the nightingale flew away, and the emperor fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning the sorrowing servants and the court attendants came to mourn their emperor, for they had accepted him to die during the night. When they opened the door, however, there stood the emperor at a window. He turned around and startled them with a strong cheery "good morning!"

There followed great rejoicing in the land, for the emperor was well and strong again. And every evening, he threw open the windows of his room to hear the lovely songs of the nightingale.

TRINA & MAGGIE

TRINA & MAGGIE

Patricia Miles Martin

Words are very importance to friends, as you will see when you read this story. Trina is a Mexican - American, who has just moved with her parents and her older sister, Carla, to a little Wyoming town. More than anything else, Trina wants to be friend with Maggie, a girl at school. Maggie wants to be Trina's friend, too. When Trina speaks Spanish, her words flow out. But when she tries to talk to Maggie in English, nothing comes out right.



Trina went to school. Every night mama held the reader and listened while she read papa listened, too. Trina spoke words and more words. But she was still shy and unsure of herself with Maggie and the other girls.

In school, she reads through the second. She read slowly. But she read well.

One Friday after school, Maggie spoke to Trina and Carla. "Tomorrow’s my birthday. I’m having a party. I’d like it if you two would come."

"It will be at two o' clock tomorrow," Maggie said.

"Charlie Wilson is coming and Abner Marshall and all the others."

Trina looked at Maggie. She would be a friend with Maggie. She swallowed hard and spoke in English, "I-like-you."

Everyone laugh except Trina. She felt hot with her embarrassment. She could hardly believe that Maggie was laughing at her.

"No voy a tu fiesta," Trina said.

"She says she won't come to your party," Carla said. She shrugged her shoulders. "I guess she doesn't want to go. I’ll go, I guess."

Trina told her mother what had happened.

How wonderful it was to tell her troubles to mama in Spanish. How wonderful to speak Spanish together. It was a beautiful language. At the moment, Trina didn't care if she ever spoke English.

"Well," mama said, "they are at fault. You are not. Sometime boys and girls do not know how to accept a compliment with grace. Perhaps until they learn this, you will show that you like people rather than tell them."

"But I do not like Maggie now," Trina said. "Perhaps I hate her. I am not quite sure."

"You will never have friends if you except them to be without fault," mama said.

That evening their mother ironed a red dress for Carla. She reached for a white dress and laid it over the ironing board.

"I am not going to the party, mama." Trina said.

"You have not yet forgiven Maggie?" her mother asked.

"No, mama."

"Very well. You need not go, of course. But you may feel differently tomorrow. You will take presents when you go."

"What presents?" Trina asked.

Their mother set the iron on the stove. "Let me think." she lifted the lid of the linen chest. "Perhaps we might make a doll's dress. Maggie will have a doll like your Ana Maria on her birthday. I was on the store when her father bought it. The doll in the glass counters."

She shook out a short length of red material sprigged with tiny yellow flowers. "See. I have saved this material. Now we will measure your Ana Maria. We will make dress for Maggie's new doll. We will start at once."

"But if I do not go to the party?"

"You could then have a beautiful dress that will fit Ana Maria. this is for you to decide."

While they talked, Carla said "I will buy a present for Maggie. I’ll stop at the store and get something on the way to the party."

She reached on the self for a baking powder can that held coins she had saved. She twisted off the top and emptied the coins on the table. She brushed half of them into the palm of her left hand and slid the coins into her pocket. Then she put the rest of the coins back into the can and twisted the top tightly shut.

"What will you buy?" Trina asked.

"A surprise," said Carla. Mama and Trina measured and cut and sewed to make a dress to fit a doll.

The next afternoon Carla dressed for the party.

Trina looked at her white dress, crisp with mama's starch. It would be beautiful with her red sash. She remembered Maggie's laughter. "I can't go,” she said to her mother.

"Very well," mama said.

"And the present for Maggie? Do you choose to give this?"

"Yes. I choose to give it. I will send it with Carla," Trina said.

She watches the girls and boys going up the hill to Maggie's house.

That afternoon, mama made hot chocolate, and they each had a sweet roll with it. Even so, the time dragged until Carla came home. The afternoon was so long.

"But I am not sorry I came home, mama. I couldn't have gone."

"I understand," mama said.

When Carla came home, she took off her red dress and put on her jeans her blue and yellow shirt.

"Everything happened at that party," Carla said. "It was fun. The birthday cake fell off the table, and if hadn't been for me, Maggie wouldn't have had any candles to blow out."

"What do you mean?" mama asked.

"Well, after the cake fell, I picked up the candles and put them on my present," Carla said.

"What was your present?" Trina asked.

"Gumdrops," said Carla. "I put a candle on each gumdrop. It was as good as a cake. Mrs. Tolley lighted them, and Maggie made a wish and blew them out."

"What did Maggie wish?" Trina asked.

"How could I know?" Carla asked. "When you blow out candles and make a wish, you don't tell what it is."

"And the doll's dress?" Trina asked. "What did Maggie say when she saw it?"

"I don't remember," Carla said.

The next day at school, Maggie walked straight to Trina.

"Trina, thank you for the doll's dress. It’s the prettiest dress I ever saw. it fits my doll." she pushed her red braids over her shoulders, and the dimples came in her cheeks. "Trina, me gusta," she said.

Everybody laughed, even Trina. Maggie, too.

"I sound funny," Maggie said. "Spanish words are hard. But if you want to, I can try to speak Spanish while you try to speak English."

"You sound funny Maggie," Carla said.

"I know. Everybody does at first," Maggie said. "Now, I will say 'thank you,' Trina, and you can say 'you're welcome' in English. Now listen, Trina. Say it after me: you - are - welcome."

Trina repeated the words slowly: "say it after me, you are welcome."

Maggie bent over with laughter.

Trina felt her own face crinkling. She blinks to keep back the tears.

"Don’t pay any attention to her," Carla said. "She cares."

"Oh, well," Maggie said. "It’s not fun to play with her anyway. If I laugh, she cries. And she won't even try to speak English."

Trina didn't stay to watch Maggie go up the hill. On her way home, she kicked the dirt until the air was thick with yellow-red dust.

"Why you are so dirty?" mama asked pleasantly in English.

"You have it backward, mama," Trina said in Spanish. "it should be, 'why-are-you-so-dirty?"

"Good," said mama. "One of us is learning English."

Trina did her homework and thought about Maggie. If she wanted Maggie to be a friend, she would have to do more than learning English. She would have to be a friend. She would have to laugh with Maggie.

She laughs out loud.

"Why do you laugh?" mama asked.

"I am practicing," Trina said.

And suddenly she and mama laugh together.

The next day Trina went straight to Maggie.

Trina speaks in English.
"You are welcome. That is the lesson for yesterday. And I am sorry. This is my lesson for today."

"All right, Trina." Maggie said. "Now you have to teach me how to say 'I’m sorry,' too."

"So easy," said Trina. "I am sorry. Lo siento."

Maggie repeated the words. "Lo siento."

The Medal

THE MEDAL
Clyde Robert Bulla

Sarah Ida Becker was staying with her aunt Claudia for the summer and was determined to find a job to earn some spending money. Al Winkler, the owner of a shoeshine stand, was the only person who would hire a young girl without experience. Sarah Ida accepted the job.

Every evening after work, Sarah Ida was tired. But every morning she was ready to go back to shoeshine corner. It wasn't that she liked shining shoes, but things happened in shoeshine stand. Every costumer was different. Every day she found out something new.

Some things she learned by herself like how much polish to use on a shoe. A thin coat gave a better and quicker shine. Some things Al told her. "When a costumer comes here, he gets more than a shine," he said. "He gets to rest in a chair. When you rub with the cloth, it feels good in his feet. When you tie his shoelaces a little tighter, it makes his shoes fit better. Anyway, I hope they do."

One warm, cloudy afternoon, he said, “we might as well close up."

"Why?" she asked. "It’s only three o'clock."

"It’s going to rain. Nobody gets a shine on a shiny day."

He began to put away the brushes and shoe polish. She helped him.


"Maybe you can run home before the rain," he said. A few big drop splashed on the sidewalk. "No. too late now."

They sat under the little roof, out of the rain.

"Hear that sound?" he said. "Every time I hear rain on a thin roof, I get to thinking about when I was a boy. We lived in an old truck with a tin roof over the back."

"You lived in a truck?"

"Most of the time. We sleep under the tin roof, and when it rained, the sound put me to sleep. We went all over the south in that truck."
 
"You and your mother and father?"

"My dad and I."

"What were you doing, driving all over the south?"

"My dad sold medicine."

"What kind?"

"Something to make you strong and keep you from getting sick."

"Did you take it?"

"No. I guess it wasn't any good."

She had never before heard him talk much about himself. She wanted him to go on.

"Was it fun living in a truck?"

"Fun? I wouldn't say so. Riding along was all right. Sometimes my dad and I stopped close to the woods, and that was all right, too. But I never liked it when we were in town selling medicine. Dad would play the mouth harp, and he made me sing. He wanted me to dance a jig, too, but I never could."

She try to imagined Al as a little boy. She couldn't at all. "Why did he want you to sing and dance?" she asked.

"To draw a crowd. When there was a crowd, he sold medicine. We didn't stay anywhere very long except once. We stayed in one place six months. My dad did farm work, and I went to school."

He told her about the school. It was just outside a town. The teacher was Miss Miller. The schoolhouse was only one room.

"There was this big stove," he said, "and that winter I kept the fire going. Miss miller never had to carry coal when I was there."

"Did you like her?" asked Sarah Ida. "Was she a good teacher?"

"Best teacher I ever had. Of course, she was just about the only one. I hadn't been to school too much, but she took time to show me things. Do teacher still give medal in school?"

"Sometimes. Not very often."

"Miss Miller gives medals. They were all alike. Everyone had a star on it. At the end of school you got one if you good in reading or writing or spelling or whatever it was. Everybody wanted a medal, but I knew I’d never get one because I wasn't the best in anything. And at the end of school, you know what happened?"

"What?"

"She called my name. The others thought it was a joke. But she wasn't laughing. She said, 'Al wins the medal for building the best fire.'"

"And it wasn't a joke?" asked Sarah Ida.

"No. she gave me a medal. One of the big boys said, 'you better keep that, Al, because it's the only one you'll ever get.''

"And did you keep it?" he held up his watch Cain. Something was hanging from it something that look like a worn, old coin.

"That’s what you won?" asked Sarah Ida.

He nodded.

"That’s a medal" she said. “That little old piece of tin?"

She shouldn't have said it. As soon as the words were out, she was sorry.
Al sat very still. He looked into the street. a moment before, he had been a friend. Now he was a stranger.
He said, "Rain’s stopped for awhile anyway."

He slid out of his chair. She got up too. "I...." she began.

He drags the folding door across the stand and locked up.

"Go on. Run," he said. "Maybe you can get home before the rain starts again."

She stood there. “I didn't mean what you think I did," she said. “That medal it doesn't matter if it's tin or silver or gold. It’s doesn't matter what it's made of, if it's something you like. I said the wrong thing, but it wasn't what I meant. I....." he had his back to her. She didn't think he was listening. She said, "Listen to me!"

He turned around. "You like ice cream?"

"Yes," she said.

"Come on. I’ll buy you a cone."

She went with him, around the corner to pearl's ice cream shack.

"What kind?" he asked.

"Chocolate," she said.

They sat on a bench inside the shack and ate their chocolate cones.

"It’s raining again," he said.

"Yes," she said.

Then they were quiet, while they listened to the rain. And she was happy because the stranger was gone and Al was back.

Later that summer, Sarah Ida faced a problem. Al was hit by a car and had to stay in the hospital. Sarah Ida wanted to keep the stand open by herself, but she was not sure she could do it. To find out what she did and what she learned during that importance summer in her life, read the shoeshine girl by Clyde Robert Bulla.

Growing

GROWING

Growing is something you do all the time. It's both exciting and a little scary. But it's something everyone does. Learning about new things and meeting new people helps you to grow. Learning to understand your own feelings and the feelings of others helps you to grow, too.

In "growing" you will read about young people having experiences that help them to learn and to grow. The people you will meet will take you on some exciting adventures.

As you read, think about how different people face the problems and excitement of growing. What does growing mean for each of them? What does it mean for you?