I have never before heard it mentioned ! ' said the First Lord . ' I will look for it and find it ! ' But where was it to be found ? The First Lord ran up and down stairs , through the halls and corridors ; but none of those he met had ever heard of the Nightingale . And the First Lord ran again to the Emperor , and told him that it must be an invention on the part of those who had written the books . ` Your Imperial Majesty can not really believe all that is written ! There are some inventions called the Black Art ! ' ` But the book in which I read this , ' said the Emperor , ` is sent me by His Great Majesty the Emperor of Japan ; so it can not be untrue , and I will hear the Nightingale ! She must be here this evening ! She has my gracious permission to appear , and if she does not , the whole Court shall be trampled under foot after supper ! ' ` Tsing pe ! ' said the First Lord ; and he ran up and down stairs , through the halls and corridors , and half the Court ran with him , for they did not want to be trampled under foot . Everyone was asking after the wonderful Nightingale which all the world knew of , except those at Court . At last they met a poor little girl in the kitchen , who said , ` Oh ! I know the Nightingale well . How she sings ! I have permission to carry the scraps over from the Court meals to my poor sick mother , and when I am going home at night , tired and weary , and rest for a little in the wood , then I hear the Nightingale singing ! It brings tears to my eyes , and I feel as if my mother were kissing me ! ' ` Little kitchenmaid ! '
said the First Lord , ' I will give you a place XXXXX the kitchen , and you shall have leave to see the Emperor at dinner , if you can lead us to the Nightingale , for she is invited to come to Court this evening . '
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