A young student cried with his face so
pale,­
For he hungered for a red rose so
sweet.­
Beside him was a singing
nightingale,­
Whose nest was on an oak
tree.­
­
The student loved a maiden,­
Who was a professor’s beautiful
daughter.­
If only a red rose had grown in his
garden,­
The student could claim her hand
forever.­
­
So the nightingale spread her wings for
flight,­
To seek a rose tree in the
meadow,­
But his roses were all white,­
And whiter than the mountain’s
snow.­
­
Again she soared like an
arrow,­
To beg another tree growing so
fair;­
But his roses were all
yellow,­
And yellower than the mermaid’s
hair.­
­
The kind tree told her
however,­
His brother was beneath the student’s
window.­
So the bird became happier,­
And passed through the garden like a
shadow.­
­
She entreated for a red rose
heartily,­
But the tree shook his head.­
He said the price would not be paid
easily,­
In gaining it the bird must be
dead.­
­
She should push her bosom against a
thorn,­
Let her blood flow into the tree’s
vein,­
And sing her sweetest songs until
dawn,­
Then a red rose would compensate her
pain.­
­
The bird did as being told,­
Pierced the thorn into her
heart,­
And kept singing with the voice of
gold,­
Waiting the rose to start.­
­
The sun rays broke the gloom,­
The nightingale,her life was ebbing
away.­
But the rose bloomed,­
And standing in the breeze it
swayed.­
­
The student woke,surprisingly seeing the
flower.­
He gently plucked it,­
And ran with all his power,­
To the girl he eagerly wanted to
meet.­
­
But the girl had already wore a
diamond,­
Which came from a rich man.­
Coldly,she threw the rose on the
ground.­
And said she wouldn’t meet the student again.
­
­
The student left,without picking up the
rose.­
Returning home,he buried his head into the
books,­
Never rose.­
­
Outside his window,sunlight
shone;­
Peacefully and unnoticed,a nightingale did
lie.­
Only the wind,who listened to her first
song,­
Was receiving her last sigh