“I pondered over this odd change, Masago, and then I thought that it must be because those without enjoyed their freedom in the open air, while my poor little bird was shut within the narrow limits of its cage.”
Her eyes became more tender still as she proceeded.
“So I opened wide the door, Masago, and let my little bird go free.”
“Why, then,” spoke the other, “it is gone. How foolish you were, Sado-ko.”
The princess shook her head.
“‘Then soft alighted on a cherry tree and filled the air with its sweet song.’”
“I thought, like you, that it would fly far, far away, but no! It only flew above my head a space, then soft alighted on a cherry tree close by, and filled the air with its sweet song.”
“But since?”
“Since then, Masago, the cage is always opened wide. Yet still the nightingale makes its home within.”