THE GOLDEN BIRD

IN times gone by there was a king who
had at the back of his castle a
beautiful pleasure-garden, in which
stood a tree that bore golden apples. As
the apples ripened they were counted,
but one morning one was missing. Then
the king was angry, and he ordered that
watch should be kept about the tree
every night. Now the king had three
sons, and he sent the eldest to spend
the whole night in the garden; so he
watched till midnight, and then he could
keep off sleep no longer, and in the
morning another apple was missing. The
second son had to watch the following
night; but it fared no better, for when
twelve o'clock had struck he went to
sleep, and in the morning another apple
was missing. Now came the turn of the
third son to watch, and he was ready to
do so; but the king had less trust in
him, and believed he would acquit
himself still worse than his brothers,
but in the end he consented to let him
try. So the young man lay down under the
tree to watch, and resolved that sleep
should not be master. When it struck
twelve something came rushing through
the air, and he saw in the moonlight a
bird flying towards him, whose feathers
glittered like gold. The bird perched
upon the tree, and had already pecked
off an apple, when the young man let fly
an arrow at it. The bird flew away, but
the arrow had struck its plumage, and
one of its golden feathers fell to the
ground: the young man picked it up, and
taking it next morning to the king, told
him what had happened in the night. The
king called his council together, and
all declared that such a feather was
worth more than the whole kingdom.

"Since the feather is so valuable," said
the king, "one is not enough for me; I
must and will have the whole bird."

So the eldest son set off, and relying
on his own cleverness he thought he
should soon find the golden bird. When
he had gone some distance he saw a fox
sitting at the edge of a wood, and he
pointed his gun at him. The fox cried
out,

"Do not shoot me, and I will give you
good counsel. You are on your way to
find the golden bird, and this evening
you will come to a village, in which two
taverns stand facing each other. One
will be brightly lighted up, and there
will be plenty of merriment going on
inside; do not mind about that, but go
into the other one, although it will
look to you very uninviting."

"How can a silly beast give one any
rational advice?" thought the king's
son, and let fly at the fox, but missed
him, and he stretched out his tail and
ran quick into the wood. Then the young
man went on his way, and towards evening
he came to the village, and there stood
the two taverns; in one singing and
dancing was going on, the other looked
quite dull and wretched. "I should be a
fool," said he, "to go into that dismal
place, while there is anything so good
close by." So he went into the merry
inn, and there lived in clover, quite
forgetting the bird and his father, and
all good counsel.

As time went on, and the eldest son
never came home, the second son set out
to seek the golden bird. He met with the
fox, just as the eldest did, and
received good advice from him without
attending to it. And when he came to the
two taverns, his brother was standing
and calling to him at the window of one
of them, out of which came sounds of
merriment; so he could not resist, but
went in and revelled to his heart's
content.

And then, as time went on, the youngest
son wished to go forth, and to try his
luck, but his father would not
consent.

"It would be useless," said he; "he is
much less likely to find the bird than
his brothers, and if any misfortune were
to happen to him he would not know how
to help himself; his wits are none of
the best."

But at last, as there was no peace to be
had, he let him go. By the side of the
wood sat the fox, begged him to spare
his life, and gave him good counsel. The
young man was kind, and said,

"Be easy, little fox, I will do you no
harm."

"You shall not repent of it," answered
the fox, "and that you may get there all
the sooner, get up and sit on my
tail."

And no sooner had he done so than the
fox began to run, and off they went over
stock and stone, so that the wind
whistled in their hair. When they
reached the village the young man got
down, and, following the fox's advice,
went into the mean-looking tavern,
without hesitating, and there he passed
a quiet night. The next morning, when he
went out into the field, the fox, who
was sitting there already, said,

"I will tell you further what you have
to do. Go straight on until you come to
a castle, before which a great band of
soldiers lie, but do not trouble
yourself about them, for they will be
all asleep and snoring; pass through
them and forward into the castle, and go
through all the rooms, until you come to
one where there is a golden bird hanging
in a wooden cage. Near at hand will
stand empty a golden cage of state, but
you must beware of taking the bird out
of his ugly cage and putting him into
the fine one; if you do so you will come
to harm."

After he had finished saying this the
fox stretched out his tail again, and
the king's son sat him down upon it;
then away they went over stock and
stone, so that the wind whistled through
their hair. And when the king's son
reached the castle he found everything
as the fox had said: and he at last
entered the room where the golden bird
was hanging in a wooden cage, while a
golden one was standing by; the three
golden apples too were in the room.
Then, thinking it foolish to let the
beautiful bird stay in that mean and
ugly cage, he opened the door of it,
took hold of it, and put it in the
golden one. In the same moment the bird
uttered a piercing cry. The soldiers
awaked, rushed in, seized the king's son
and put him in prison. The next morning
he was brought before a judge, and, as
he confessed everything, condemned to
death. But the king said he would spare
his life on one condition, that he
should bring him the golden horse whose
paces were swifter than the wind, and
that then he should also receive the
golden bird as a reward.

So the king's son set off to find the
golden horse, but he sighed, and was
very sad, for how should it be
accomplished? And then he saw his old
friend the fox sitting by the
roadside.

"Now, you see," said the fox, "all this
has happened, because you would not
listen to me. But be of good courage, I
will bring you through, and will tell
you how you are to get the golden horse.
You must go straight on until you come
to a castle, where the horse stands in
his stable; before the stable-door the
grooms will be lying, but they will all
be asleep and snoring; and you can go
and quietly lead out the horse. But one
thing you must mind--take care to put
upon him the plain saddle of wood and
leather, and not the golden one, which
will hang close by; otherwise it will go
badly with you."

Then the fox stretched out his tail, and
the king's son seated himself upon it,
and away they went over stock and stone
until the wind whistled through their
hair. And everything happened just as
the fox had said, and he came to the
stall where the golden horse was: and as
he was about to put on him the plain
saddle, he thought to himself,

"Such a beautiful animal would be
disgraced were I not to put on him the
good saddle, which becomes him so well."
However, no sooner did the horse feel
the golden saddle touch him than he
began to neigh. And the grooms all
awoke, seized the king's son and threw
him into prison. The next morning he was
delivered up to justice and condemned to
death, but the king promised him his
life, and also to bestow upon him the
golden horse, if he could convey thither
the beautiful princess of the golden
castle.

With a heavy heart the king's son set
out, but by great good luck he soon met
with the faithful fox.

"I ought now to leave you to your own
ill-luck," said the fox, "but I am sorry
for you, and will once more help you in
your need. Your way lies straight up to
the golden castle: you will arrive there
in the evening, and at night, when all
is quiet, the beautiful princess goes to
the bath. And as she is entering the
bathing-house, go up to her and give her
a kiss, then she will follow you, and
you can lead her away; but do not suffer
her first to go and take leave of her
parents, or it will go ill with you."

Then the fox stretched out his tail; the
king's son seated himself upon it, and
away they went over stock and stone, so
that the wind whistled through their
hair. And when he came to the golden
castle, all was as the fox had said. He
waited until midnight, when all lay in
deep sleep, and then as the beautiful
princess went to the bathing-house he
went up to her and gave her a kiss, and
she willingly promised to go with him,
but she begged him earnestly, and with
tears, that he would let her first go
and take leave of her parents. At first
he denied her prayer, but as she wept so
much the more, and fell at his feet, he
gave in at last. And no sooner had the
princess reached her father's bedside
than he, and all who were in the castle,
waked up, and the young man was seized
and thrown into prison.

The next morning the king said to him,

"Thy life is forfeit, but thou shalt
find grace if thou canst level that
mountain that lies before my windows,
and over which I am not able to see: and
if this is done within eight days thou
shalt have my daughter for a reward."

So the king's son set to work, and dug
and shovelled away without ceasing, but
when, on the seventh day, he saw how
little he had accomplished, and that all
his work was as nothing, he fell into
great sadness, and gave up all hope. But
on the evening of the seventh day the
fox appeared, and said,

"You do not deserve that I should help
you, but go now and lie down to sleep,
and I will do the work for you."

The next morning when he awoke, and
looked out of the window, the mountain
had disappeared. The young man hastened
full of joy to the king, and told him
that his behest was fulfilled, and,
whether the king liked it or not, he had
to keep to his word, and let his
daughter go.

So they both went away together, and it
was not long before the faithful fox
came up to them.

"Well, you have got the best first,"
said he; "but you must know the golden
horse belongs to the princess of the
golden castle."

"But how shall I get it?" asked the
young man.

"I am going to tell you," answered the
fox. "First, go to the king who sent you
to the golden castle, and take to him
the beautiful princess. There will then
be very great rejoicing; he will
willingly give you the golden horse, and
they will lead him out to you; then
mount him without delay, and stretch out
your hand to each of them to take leave,
and last of all to the princess, and
when you have her by the hand swing her
up on the horse behind you, and off you
go! nobody will be able to overtake you,
for that horse goes swifter than the
wind."

And so it was all happily done, and the
king's son carried off the beautiful
princess on the golden horse. The fox
did not stay behind, and he said to the
young man,

"Now, I will help you to get the golden
bird. When you draw near the castle
where the bird is, let the lady alight,
and I will take her under my care; then
you must ride the golden horse into the
castle-yard, and there will be great
rejoicing to see it, and they will bring
out to you the golden bird; as soon as
you have the cage in your hand, you must
start off back to us, and then you shall
carry the lady away."

The plan was successfully carried out;
and when the young man returned with the
treasure, the fox said,

"Now, what will you give me for my
reward?"

"What would you like?" asked the young
man.

"When we are passing through the wood, I
desire that you should slay me, and cut
my head and feet off."

"That were a strange sign of gratitude,"
said the king's son, "and I could not
possibly do such a thing."

Then said the fox,

"If you will not do it, I must leave
you; but before I go let me give you
some good advice. Beware of two things:
buy no gallows-meat, and sit at no
brook-side." With that the fox ran off
into the wood.

The young man thought to himself, "That
is a wonderful animal, with most
singular ideas. How should any one buy
gallows-meat? and I am sure I have no
particular fancy for sitting by a
brook-side."

So he rode on with the beautiful
princess, and their way led them through
the village where his two brothers had
stayed. There they heard great outcry
and noise, and when he asked what it was
all about, they told him that two people
were going to be hanged. And when he
drew near he saw that it was his two
brothers, who had done all sorts of evil
tricks, and had wasted all their goods.
He asked if there were no means of
setting them free.

"Oh yes! if you will buy them off,"
answered the people; "but why should you
spend your money in redeeming such
worthless men?"

But he persisted in doing so; and when
they were let go they all went on their
journey together.

After a while they came to the wood
where the fox had met them first, and
there it seemed so cool and sheltered
from the sun's burning rays that the two
brothers said,

"Let us rest here for a little by the
brook, and eat and drink to refresh
ourselves."

The young man consented, quite
forgetting the fox's warning, and he
seated himself by the brook-side,
suspecting no evil. But the two brothers
thrust him backwards into the brook,
seized the princess, the horse, and the
bird, and went home to their father.

"Is not this the golden bird that we
bring?" said they; "and we have also the
golden horse, and the princess of the
golden castle."

Then there was great rejoicing in the
royal castle, but the horse did not
feed, the bird did not chirp, and the
princess sat still and wept.

The youngest brother, however, had not
perished. The brook was, by good
fortune, dry, and he fell on soft moss
without receiving any hurt, but he could
not get up again. But in his need the
faithful fox was not lacking; he came up
running, and reproached him for having
forgotten his advice.

"But I cannot forsake you all the same,"
said he; "I will help you back again
into daylight." So he told the young man
to grasp his tail, and hold on to it
fast, and so he drew him up again.

"Still you are not quite out of all
danger," said the fox; "your brothers,
not being certain of your death, have
surrounded the wood with sentinels, who
are to put you to death if you let
yourself be seen."

A poor beggar-man was sitting by the
path, and the young man changed clothes
with him, and went clad in that wise
into the king's courtyard. Nobody knew
him, but the bird began to chirp, and
the horse began to feed, and the
beautiful princess ceased weeping.

"What does this mean?" said the king,
astonished.

The princess answered,

"I cannot tell, except that I was sad,
and now I am joyful; it is to me as if
my rightful bridegroom had returned."

Then she told him all that happened,
although the two brothers had threatened
to put her to death if she let out
anything. The king then ordered every
person who was in the castle to be
brought before him, and with the rest
came the young man like a beggar in his
wretched garments; but the princess knew
him, and greeted him well, falling on
his neck and kissing him. The wicked
brothers were seized and put to death,
and the youngest brother was married to
the princess, and succeeded to the
inheritance of his father.

But what became of the poor fox? Long
afterwards the king's son was going
through the wood, and the fox met him
and said,

"Now, you have everything that you can
wish for, but my misfortunes never come
to an end, and it lies in your power to
free me from them." And once more he
prayed the king's son earnestly to slay
him, and cut off his head and feet. So,
at last, he consented, and no sooner was
it done than the fox was changed into a
man, and was no other than the brother
of the beautiful princess; and thus he
was set free from a spell that had bound
him for a long, long time.

And now, indeed, there lacked nothing to
their happiness as long as they lived. 