Rise of the Nightingale Once upon a time there lived a frog

under a Sumac tree in a fictional place called the Bingle Bog. Under the false pretense that he was a sensational and melodious singer, he “blessed” his fellow creatures with his voice day after day. His crass cacophony was despised by others. They tried very hard to get rid of him, but all the sticks and the stones failed to shatter the presumptuous frog’s illusion. He went on singing to his heart’s content. One fine moonlit night, a beautiful nightingale came and perched on the sumac, casting forth her melody. Every single life form in the Bog, including the frog, sat flabbergasted, amazed by the sheer excellence of the bird’s talent.

Absolutely entranced by the song, all the creatures gazed at her. Captivated and enthralled by the utterly divine melody, they urged her to keep going on. They moved closer and

applauded and the flattered bird went on until dawn. The

following night, she perched on the sumac tree once more and was setting up when right out of nowhere the cunning frog

croaked. He presented himself to be a fairly eminent

personality. He rolled his glib-tongue on and on. He claimed to own the sumac tree, to be far-famed for his “splendid baritone” and a music critic

who wrote for the Bog Trumpet.

Blandished to be conversing with such a superior personality, the nightingale asked him how he had liked her song. To answer this, the frog put all his role-playing into effect and started nitpicking. The simple-minded bird contended with just the fact that a critic of such a note had discussed her singing, became flustered and remarked that at least the song was her own. But the harsh and envious frog ruthlessly discarded her. He offered to train her and convinced that without his guidance, she wouldn’t ever be anything more than a novice. Hearing this, the nightingale became ecstatic and referred to the frog as “Mozart in disguise”. But in reality, the crafty frog couldn’t have cared less about her hopes and dreams. He charged her a high fee for the training too .

The gullible nightingale, now flushed with confidence, sang with all her heart and grew to be a sensation.

Many creatures from the vicinity of the bog constellated towards the charming sound. The wily

frog exploited her talent and minted money for himself by charging admission. The next morning, although the weather was unfavorable, the wicked

frog slyly convinced the bird to come out of her house and made her practice vigorously up and down the

musical scale for six long hours. Though the nightingale was incredibly fatigued, in the night, her voice revived. A titled crowd flocked the sumac tree.

The frog watched them, joyously charging them money, but also with a nagging feeling of envy,

wishing that it was him they appreciated.

The Frog made her sing in the pouring rain for hours. Her voice now hurt, and she was shivering in the cold. Still he made her sing through the night. He insisted that she should sing faster and louder like him and follow the fashion of the times if she wanted to be famous. Under such harsh non-stop training and criticism, the Nightingale lost her beautiful voice and her singing became uninspired and mechanical.

Fall of the Nightingale

Day by day the nightingale Grew more sorrowful and pale. Night on night her tired song Zipped and trilled

and bounced along, Till the birds and beasts grew tired At a voice so uninspired And the ticket office gross

Crashed, and she grew more morose - For her ears were now addicted To applause quite unrestricted, And to

sing into the night All alone gave no delight. The animals stopped coming to listen and she grew

sorrowful and pale. She had gotten used to the fame and cheering and it no longer delighted her to sing alone in the forest. The stony hearted frog

scolded her for not singing well enough. The dwindling audiences made him lose money. He reminded the poor bird that she still owed him

sixty shillings, so she should look sharp and pull up her socks.

Even after all this, the frog did not stop depreciating the helpless bird. He incessantly scolded her harshly and insisted on making her song fancier, jauntier. He provided all sorts of destructive criticism and rendered her helpless by pointing out how he was obliging her by his exclusive training. The nightingale followed his words like quotes from the Bible and turned her song and her singing into something so banal that it could no longer involve the audience. This led to her meltdown as she was now addicted to applause. The frog went berserk with rage now. He lashed out at the poor bird. He asked her to renew her song. Terrified to fail, the nightingale tried her best, but the training taking a toll on her, burst a vein and died.

The evil frog turns out to be more vicious than we had once thought. Even after the nightingale’s tragic death, just to throw off the suspicion that had naturally landed on him, he dismissed her as “Far too nervous, far too tense, far too prone to influence”. He sarcastically remarks that she should have not listened to him and should have known the power of originality and goes on to blare his own pain of a voice unrivalled through the bog.

The moral of the poem : One should always use one’s

own wits and wisdom to judge another person. Getting influenced by unknown, without using one’s own intellect is a sign of weakness. One should always look out for cunning, witty and selfish people like the frog who deceive innocent and timid people like the nightingale.

Conclusion

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