The first thing that I thought of when I read this was the classic fairy tale "nighingale" ("http://www.pacificnet.net/~johnr/cgi/aesop1.cgi? hca&a61").
The story tells of a Chineese emperor who heard a beautiful, magical bird sing. He loved the bird's singing so much he took her captive. Then someone gave him a jewell-encrusted mechanical bird. He liked the mechanical bird better because it was predictable (you knew what it would sing because it was a machine), it would sing all the time (never got tired) and it was prettier to look at (because it was artificial). He banished the real bird.
Then one day the spring broke in the mechanical bird. A watchmaker was able to fix it only to the point where it could sing once a year. The emperor became ill and death came to his heart.
The real bird came back from banishment one night. She sang to him and gave him hope so that death left his heart. He wanted to reward the bird but she said that the tears of joy he shed when she sang for him were the reward of a real singer.
Thanks go to Dorothy Dorothy (http://www.rdorothywayneright.com/intro.shtml) for making me aware of this story.
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The first thing that I thought of when I read this was the classic fairy tale "nighingale" ("http://www.pacificnet.net/~johnr/cgi/aesop1.cgi? hca&a61").
The story tells of a Chineese emperor who heard a beautiful, magical bird sing. He loved the bird's singing so much he took her captive. Then someone gave him a jewell-encrusted mechanical bird. He liked the mechanical bird better because it was predictable (you knew what it would sing because it was a machine), it would sing all the time (never got tired) and it was prettier to look at (because it was artificial). He banished the real bird.
Then one day the spring broke in the mechanical bird. A watchmaker was able to fix it only to the point where it could sing once a year. The emperor became ill and death came to his heart.
The real bird came back from banishment one night. She sang to him and gave him hope so that death left his heart. He wanted to reward the bird but she said that the tears of joy he shed when she sang for him were the reward of a real singer.
Thanks go to Dorothy Dorothy (http://www.rdorothywayneright.com/intro.shtml) for making me aware of this story.