Nightingale and the Sultan

Once upon a time, there was a Sultan (King) who owned the most beautiful palace in the world.

But this Sultan did not see the beauty he already had. His palace garden was full of flowers of a thousand colors and beauty. But more famous than these beautiful flowers was the Nightingale (Bülbül) who lived in the garden.

The Nightingale had such a beautiful song that people came from far-away countries just to listen to it. The strange thing was that the Sultan of the country did not know about this Nightingale. He only found out about it later.

The Sultan became very angry about this. He immediately called his Vizier (Prime Minister): "Sultans from far-off lands are coming to see the Nightingale in my palace, but I do not know about the Nightingale in my own garden! Is this right?" he yelled at his Vizier.

The Vizier couldn't answer because he didn't know about the Nightingale either.

Then, the Sultan called the gardener: "Tell me, Gardener. There is a Nightingale in my garden whose beautiful voice the whole world has heard, but I cannot hear it! Why do I not know about this? Quickly find that Nightingale and bring it to me!"

The Gardener immediately went down to the main garden. He searched everywhere, looked high and low, and asked everyone, but he could not find the Nightingale. The Gardener told the Vizier that he couldn't find the bird. The Vizier went to the Sultan and said: "My Sultan, we searched and searched, but we could not find such a Nightingale. If there truly was such a bird, we would have found it."

The Sultan became even angrier at this news. He roared: "Immediately find that Nightingale and bring it to me, or I will punish all of you!"

The Sultan's loud voice reached the kitchen maid working in the palace. The girl heard what was being said and went to the Gardener: "You cannot find the Nightingale you are looking for, but if you want, I can take you to it," she said.

The palace workers were very happy and set off with the girl on the road to the forest where the Nightingale lived.

When the girl came to the place where the Nightingale lived, she called out to it. The Nightingale appeared on a tree branch. The young girl said to the Nightingale: "The Sultan wants to see you and hear your voice. If you do not come with us, he will punish us all."

The Nightingale did not want anyone to be punished, so it agreed to go to the palace with the Sultan's soldiers. It sang songs all the way to the palace. The soldiers were amazed by the Nightingale's voice!

Finally, the Nightingale stood before the Sultan and started singing with its beautiful voice. It sang so sweetly and beautifully that the Sultan was deeply touched by this beauty. Tears flowed from the Sultan's eyes.

He said to the Nightingale that had affected him so much: "Wish for whatever you want from me!"

The Nightingale replied: "The best gift for me is to see you happy, my Sultan."

The Sultan was even happier with this answer. The Nightingale became the most honored guest in the palace. From that day on, it started living in the beautiful garden and singing its beautiful songs. All the people of the country gathered around the palace to listen to the Nightingale's songs.

One day, a gift box was sent to the Sultan from a distant country. In the box was a toy Nightingale decorated with jewels. This toy bird had a winding key. When the key was turned, the toy Nightingale would sing just like a real one.

The Sultan liked this gift very much. He started spending all his time with the toy bird and ignored the real Nightingale. Sad about this, the real Nightingale from the beautiful garden said: "The Sultan won't even notice I'm gone anyway," and flew away from the palace.

After some time, the Sultan's toy Nightingale broke. The Sultan felt empty without the sound of the Nightingale. Right then, he noticed that the real Nightingale was missing. He realized he had been unfair to the real bird.

The Sultan understood that the Nightingale was hurt and had flown away. He became sick with sadness and took to his bed. He got worse day by day, and his people were very worried. Since the Sultan could not get out of bed, the helpless people decided to choose a new Sultan.

This decision reached the Nightingale in the beautiful garden. The Nightingale heard that the Sultan was sick from love and regret for it. The Nightingale decided to help him.

It immediately came and landed on the window of the Sultan's room. It started singing beautiful songs to him again. The Sultan, hearing the Nightingale's voice from his sick bed, became very happy. He was completely better by the morning and stood up!

The Sultan let the Nightingale inside the window and said: "From now on, I will never leave you alone or unloved. I am truly sorry for breaking your heart."

The Nightingale was very happy with the Sultan's words. Everyone in the palace was thrilled to see the Sultan standing and the Nightingale by his side.

The Sultan had a nest built for the Nightingale both inside the palace and in the garden so it wouldn't get cold on rainy and windy days.

From that day on, not a single day passed without the Nightingale's melody in the country. The friendship between the Sultan and the Nightingale spread by word of mouth and has reached us today.

They got their wishes, and we can climb onto the couch (or start a new story). 💖