The Nightingale and the Prince

Fable by Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian Period 18th century

A young prince, with his governor,
was walking in a grove,
and was bored, as usual;
such is the benefit of grandeur.
A nightingale was singing beneath the foliage:
the prince spots it, and finds it charming;
and, as he was a prince, he wants in the moment
to catch it and put it in a cage.
But to take it he makes noise,
and the bird flees.
Why then, said his highness in anger,
does the most lovable of birds
stay in the woods, wild and solitary,
while my palace is filled with sparrows?
It is, the mentor told him, in order to instruct you
of what one day you must experience:
fools all know how to show themselves;
merit hides itself, one must go find it.

Florian

Translation generated by Poésies 123 with assistance from the deepseek-chat artificial-intelligence model.

Text published on Poésies 123: https://www.poesies123.com/en/fable-the-nightingale-and-the-prince-jean-pierre-claris-de-florian/