The Nightingale and the Rose
In this beautiful story by Oscar Wilde, it is question of the deepest emotion of all: love. The story mostly takes place in the Student’s garden, where the said Student is crying in despair because he was not able to collect a red rose to conquer his love’s heart and take her to the Prince’s ball. A nightingale hears him, and feels deep sorrow at the thought of this lover’s heart breaking. She then decides to do all that she can to help him, for his love surely is pure and must be worth more than everything else.
The Nightingale then flies from rose tree to rose tree in search of the reddest of roses, to finally reach the red-rose tree; however, the Tree tells her that the only way for him to produce the flower she seeks is to build it out of her own blood, to the sound of music, by moonlight. The little Nightingale agreed, and her chant produced the most beautiful red rose of all. After her death, the Student picked up the rose and offered it to his love. To the reader’s amazement, the maiden refused the rose, saying that jewels were worth more than a simple flower and that she would go to the ball with the Chamberlain’s nephew. Thrown on the floor by the Student, ran over by a cart-wheel, left in disgrace by the ungrateful maiden, the rose the Nightingale had sacrificed her life for was useless. The Student then returned to his books: they were more practical than love could ever be.
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