“You must sing to me with your breast against a thorn.”你要在你的胸口插进一根尖刺，为我歌唱。
心疼为爱情献出生命的夜莺，爱比生命更可贵，但是爱不一定比生命更永恒。学生被心爱之人拒绝之后，爱情便消失的无影无踪了。夜莺用生命换来的短暂的希望，到头来却是什么都没有留下。夜莺没有收到她牺牲生命换来的报酬。
“One red rose is all I want,” cried the Nightingale, “only one red rose! Is there no way by which I can get it?”
“There is a way,” answered the Tree, “but it is so terrible that I dare not tell it to you.”
“Tell it to me,” said the Nightingale, “I am not afraid.”
“If you want a red rose,” said the Tree, “you must build it out of music by moonlight, and stain it with your own heart’s-blood. You must sing to me with your breast against a thorn. All night long you must sing to me, and the thorn must pierce your heart, and your life-blood must flow into my veins, and become mine.”
“Death is a great price to pay for a red rose,” cried the Nightingale, “and Life is very dear to all. It is pleasant to sit in the green wood, and to watch the Sun in his chariot of gold, and the Moon on her chariot of pearl. Sweet is the scent of the hawthorn, and sweet are the bluebells that hide in the valley, and the heather that blows in the hill. Yet Love is better than Life, and what is the heart of a bird compared to the heart of a man?”
夜莺叹道：“用死来买一朵红玫瑰，代价真不小，谁的生命不是宝贵的？坐在青郁的森林里，看那驾着金马车的太阳、月亮在幽深的夜空驰骋，是多么快乐呀！山楂花的味儿真香，山谷里的桔梗和山坡上的野草真美，然而‘爱’比生命更可贵，一只小鸟的心又怎能和人的心相比呢？”
So she spread brown wings for flight, and soared into the air. She swept over the garden like a shadow, and like a shadow she sailed through the grove.
The young Student was still lying on the grass, where she had left him, and the tears were not yet dry in his beautiful eyes.
“Be happy,” cried the Nightingale, “be happy; you shall have your red rose. I will build it out of music by moonlight, and stain it with my own heart’s-blood. All that I ask of you in return is that you will be a true lover, for Love is wiser than Philosophy, though he is wise, and mightier than Power, though he is mighty. Flame-coloured are his wings, and coloured like flame is his body. His lips are sweet as honey, and his breath is like frankincense.”
“高兴吧，快乐吧！”夜莺喊道，“你将要采到那朵红玫瑰了。我将在月光中用歌声来使她诞生，我向你索取的报酬，仅是要你做一个忠实的情人。因为哲理虽智，爱却比他更慧；权利虽雄，爱却比他更伟。焰光的色彩是爱的双翅，烈火的颜色是爱的躯干，他的唇甜如蜜，他的气息香如乳。”
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