Today's story is The Nightingale. It is a beautiful tale about friendship and realness by Hans Christian Andersen. The story follows an emperor who prefers the tinkling of a bejeweled mechanical bird to the song of a real nightingale. When the Emperor is near death, the nightingale's song restores his health.
The theme of the tale is real and artificial, the role of a true creator and art in the life of a person. We also learn that true friends let each other be themselves. The emperor eventually learns that his friendship with the nightingale worked better when they each had freedom to be themselves. Although The Nightingale was written 179 years ago, this life-giving friendship rings more true than ever in today’s society where we talk about the value of real art and friendships being measured by ‘likes’ and how many people respond to our posts. It’s time to ask ourselves the tough question regarding the friendships we have – are they life-giving friendships?
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