In a small village in Sweden lived a young girl who was terribly poor and unskilled, so she could get along only by doing the most menial of jobs. She loved to sing, and despite her poverty, she dreamed of some day being a great singer. She began to sing on street corners, hoping passersby would toss her a copper or two.

Each day she sang in wind and rain, heat or cold, yet barely had enough at the end of the day to buy food. Some in the village protested to the town council that it wasn't right for children to be on the street in rags, begging, yet no one did anything to help her. One day a great musician happened to pass by and hear her. He was entranced by her beautiful voice. He took the ragged urchin home with him and began to teach her how to use her glorious voice to its fullest. In time she became the toast of two continents and everyone knew and loved "The Swedish Nightingale," as they called Jenny Lind.