A pious Sultan, devoted to prayer, builds a magnificent mosque, but a Dervish claims it lacks beauty, prompting the Sultan to construct two more mosques, each deemed insufficient. The Dervish reveals that the mosque needs the Nightingale Gisar to be truly beautiful. The Sultan's three sons embark on a quest to find the elusive bird. The eldest takes the safe road, becoming a barber but failing to find the Nightingale. The middle brother opens a coffee-house, also unsuccessful. The youngest brother chooses the dangerous path, encountering a wild woman who cannot help him. He continues to a Tiger's house, where he helps the Tiger's wife and learns to seek the Lion for guidance. The Lion, however, knows nothing of the Nightingale. The youngest brother faces various dangers, including battling eagles, and eventually meets three maidens who reveal that the Nightingale is kept by the Warrior Princess, Flower o' the World. They offer to help him reach her palace. After three months, the maidens fly him to the princess's palace, where he stealthily retrieves the Nightingale from her chamber. He returns to the crossroads where he had parted from his brothers, but they, filled with envy, beat him and take the Nightingale to the Sultan, falsely claiming it as their own. The Sultan, unaware of the truth, hangs the bird in the mosque, but it refuses to sing. A beggar youth, who is actually the youngest brother, enters the mosque and the Nightingale sings. The Sultan's older sons are sent to the Warrior Princess, but both are executed for their lies. The Sultan, distraught, learns from the Dervish that the Nightingale sings for the beggar. The Sultan sends for the beggar, who reveals his identity as the youngest son. The Warrior Princess recognizes him as the true thief of the Nightingale and, moved by his bravery, decides to marry him. The story culminates in a joyous wedding, uniting the Sultan's youngest son and the Warrior Princess, while the Nightingale sings beautifully, fulfilling the Sultan's dream of a perfect mosque. The tale emphasizes themes of bravery, truth, and the consequences of envy.
By Parker Fillmore · First published 1930 · Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Fairy Tale