Nightingale words - Nightingale words

… [Higuchi Hiroyoshi]
[Folklore]
Because it appears early in the spring and sings with a delicate voice, it is also known by other names such as the spring messenger bird, the flower-viewing bird, the song-eito bird, and the sutra-reading bird. Folk tales that feature this bird as an important element include "The Stepchild and the Bird," in which a father learns of his son's death through his song; "The Miruna Room," in which happiness is lost by not following a prohibition; and "The Nightingale Words," in which a foolish bride tries to imitate the song of a nightingale but fails. For those who were most interested in the song of the nightingale that appears in these tales, "nightingale competitions" were held, a spring game held in February in which people competed to see who could make the best song of a bird they had tamed. This game was played frequently both officially and among the general public during the Edo period.

*Some of the terminology that refers to "nightingale kotoba" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…【樋口 広芳】
［民俗］
　春に早く現れて微妙な声で鳴くので，春告鳥，花見鳥，歌詠鳥，経読鳥などの異称がある。この鳥を重要な要素とする昔話に，鳴声で父が子の死を知る〈継子と鳥〉，禁止を守らず幸福を失う〈見るなの座敷〉，愚か嫁がウグイスの声をまねて失敗する〈鶯言葉〉などがある。これらに現れるウグイスの声がもっとも重要な関心事だった人々が催したのが〈鶯合（うぐいすあわせ）〉で，各自飼い慣らした鳥の鳴声の優劣を競う春2月の遊びで，公式にもまた民間でも江戸時代には盛んに行われた。…

※「鶯言葉」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報