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 in 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 on the hill. Yet Love is better than Life, and what is the heart of a bird compared to the heart of a man?"

夜莺央告说:“一朵红玫瑰就够了。只要一朵红玫瑰!请问有甚法子没有?”

那树答道:“有一个法子， 只有一个，但是太可怕了，我不敢告诉你。

“告诉我吧,"夜莺勇敢地说,"我不怕"。

那树说道:“你若要一朵红玫瑰， 你需在月色里用音乐制成，然后用你自己的心血染她。你须将胸口顶着根尖刺，为我歌唱。你须整夜地为我歌唱，那刺须刺入你的心头，你生命的血液得流到我的心房里变成我的."

夜莺叹道:“拿死来买一朵红玫瑰， 代价真不小。谁的生命不是宝费的，坐在青郁的森林里，看太阳在黄金车里，月亮在白珠辇内驰骋，真是桩乐事。 山楂花的味儿真香，山谷里的吊钟花和山坡上的野草真美。然而“爱”比生命更可贵，一只鸟的心又怎能和人的心比?”