The Nightingale and the Rose

Quick Answer

Why This Story Works for Bedtime

It’s best for older kids and a quiet, thoughtful mood. The language is gentle and beautiful, but the ending is sad; it can spark a calm conversation about kindness and how love should be returned, not demanded.

Story Synopsis

A young student hears that a red rose is the one thing he needs to win the heart of the girl he admires. Without it, he believes he will be refused. When he finds no red rose in his garden, he sinks into despair and complains that love asks too much. A nightingale, listening, takes the words seriously. The bird believes in romantic love with a pure, almost holy devotion. Determined to help, the nightingale searches for a red rose and finds only a white rose tree and a yellow one—until it discovers a rose tree that can produce red, but only at a terrible cost. To create the red rose, the nightingale must press its heart against a thorn and sing through the night as its lifeblood colors the petals. The bird sings with increasing pain, giving everything for the idea of love. By dawn, the rose is crimson—perfect—and the nightingale lies still. The student takes the rose and offers it to the girl, expecting gratitude. But she rejects it, preferring the practical gifts of another suitor. The student, hurt, decides love is foolish and returns to his studies, forgetting the sacrifice that made the rose. The story is quiet and sharp: it honors the beauty of selfless love, yet questions romantic ideals when they are not met with care. At bedtime, it’s a gentle invitation to talk about love that includes respect and gratitude.

Story Excerpt

The young Student stood in his garden with his hands clenched at his sides. “She said she would dance with me if I brought her red roses,” he cried. “But in all my garden there is no red rose.” Up in the holm-oak tree, a Nightingale sat in her small nest. She heard his voice shake, and she peered out through the leaves, wondering. “No red rose in all my garden!” the Student said again, and his bright eyes filled with tears. “Ah, how happiness depends on such little things. I have read what wise men have written, and the secrets of philosophy are mine—yet for want of a red rose my life is made miserable.” “Here, at last, is a true lover,” the Nightingale whispered to herself. “Night after night I have sung of him, though I did not know him. Night after night I have told his story to the stars—and now I see him.” The Student spoke on, as if the grass and the flowers were his only listeners. “The Prince gives a ball tomorrow night,” he murmured, “and my love will be there. If I bring her a red rose, she will dance with me till dawn. If I bring her a red rose, I shall hold her in my arms, and she will lean her head upon my shoulder, and her hand will be clasped in mine.

In One Glance