THE SPARROW KIND. #7 



a most admirable faculty of talking. He tells the 

 following story in proof of his assertion, which 

 he says was communicated to him by a friend. 

 " Whilst I was at Ratisbon," says his correspon- 

 dent, " I put up at an inn, the sign of the Golden 

 Crown, where my host had three nightingales. 

 What I am going to repeat is wonderful, almost 

 incredible, and yet is true. The nightingales 

 were placed separately, so that each was shut up 

 by itself in a dark cage. It happened at that 

 time, being the spring of the year, when those 

 birds are wont to sing indefatigably, that I was so 

 afflicted with the stone, that I could sleep but 

 very little all night. It was usual then about 

 midnight, when there was no noise in the house, 

 but all still, to hear the two nightingales jangling, 

 and talking with each other, and plainly imitat- 

 ing men's discourses. For my part, I was almost 

 astonished with wonder ; for at this time, when 

 all was quiet else, they held conference together, 

 and repeated whatever they had heard among 

 the guests by day. Those two of them that were 

 most notable, and masters of this art, were scarce 

 ten feet distant from one another. The third 

 hung more remote, so that I could not so well 

 hear it as I lay a-bed. But it is wonderful to tell 

 how those two provoked each other, and by an- 

 swering, invited and drew one another to speak. 

 Yet did they not confound their words, or talk 

 both together, but rather utter them alternately 

 and of course. Besides the daily discourse of the 

 guests, they chaunted out two stories, which ge- 

 nerally held them from midnight till morning ; 



