A Labourer lay listening to a Nightingale's song throughout the summer night.
So pleased was he with it that the next night he set a trap for it and captured it.
"Now that I have caught thee, " he cried, "thou shalt always sing to me. "
"We Nightingales never sing in a cage. " said the bird.
"Then I'll eat thee. " said the Labourer. "I have always heard say that a nightingale on toast is dainty morsel. "
"Nay, kill me not, " said the Nightingale; "but let me free, and I'll tell thee three things far better worth than my poor body. "
The Labourer let him loose, and he flew up to a branch of a tree and said:
"Never believe a captive's promise; that's one thing. Then again: Keep what you have. And third piece of advice is: Sorrow not over what is lost forever. "
Then the song - bird flew away.
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