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THE GOLDEN BIRD


A certain king had a beautiful garden, and in the garden
stood a tree which bore golden apples. These apples were
always counted, and about the time when they began to
grow ripe it was found that every night one of them was
gone. The king became very angry at this, and ordered the
gardener to keep watch all night under the tree. The
gardener set his eldest son to watch; but about twelve
o’clock he fell asleep, and in the morning another of the
apples was missing. Then the second son was ordered to
watch; and at midnight he too fell asleep, and in the
morning another apple was gone. Then the third son
offered to keep watch; but the gardener at first would not
let him, for fear some harm should come to him: however,
at last he consented, and the young man laid himself under
the tree to watch. As the clock struck twelve he heard a
rustling noise in the air, and a bird came flying that was of
pure gold; and as it was snapping at one of the apples with
its beak, the gardener’s son jumped up and shot an arrow
at it. But the arrow did the bird no harm; only it dropped
a golden feather from its tail, and then flew away. The
golden feather was brought to the king in the morning,
and all the council was called together. Everyone agreed
that it was worth more than all the wealth of the kingdom:
but the king said, ‘One feather is of no use to me, I must
have the whole bird.’

Then the gardener’s eldest son set out and thought to
find the golden bird very easily; and when he had gone
but a little way, he came to a wood, and by the side of the
wood he saw a fox sitting; so he took his bow and made
ready to shoot at it. Then the fox said, ‘Do not shoot me,
for I will give you good counsel; I know what your
business is, and that you want to find the golden bird. You
will reach a village in the evening; and when you get
there, you will see two inns opposite to each other, one of
which is very pleasant and beautiful to look at: go not in
there, but rest for the night in the other, though it may
appear to you to be very poor and mean.’ But the son
thought to himself, ‘What can such a beast as this know
about the matter?’ So he shot his arrow at the fox; but he
missed it, and it set up its tail above its back and ran into
the wood. Then he went his way, and in the evening
came to the village where the two inns were; and in one
of these were people singing, and dancing, and feasting;
but the other looked very dirty, and poor. ‘I should be
very silly,’ said he, ‘if I went to that shabby house, and left
this charming place’; so he went into the smart house, and
ate and drank at his ease, and forgot the bird, and his
country too.

Time passed on; and as the eldest son did not come
back, and no tidings were heard of him, the second son set
out, and the same thing happened to him. He met the fox,
who gave him the good advice: but when he came to the
two inns, his eldest brother was standing at the window
where the merrymaking was, and called to him to come
in; and he could not withstand the temptation, but went
in, and forgot the golden bird and his country in the same
manner.

Time passed on again, and the youngest son too wished
to set out into the wide world to seek for the golden bird;
but his father would not listen to it for a long while, for he
was very fond of his son, and was afraid that some ill luck
might happen to him also, and prevent his coming back.
However, at last it was agreed he should go, for he would
not rest at home; and as he came to the wood, he met the
fox, and heard the same good counsel. But he was
thankful to the fox, and did not attempt his life as his
brothers had done; so the fox said, ‘Sit upon my tail, and
you will travel faster.’ So he sat down, and the fox began

to run, and away they went over stock and stone so quick
that their hair whistled in the wind.

When they came to the village, the son followed the
fox’s counsel, and without looking about him went to the
shabby inn and rested there all night at his ease. In the
morning came the fox again and met him as he was
beginning his journey, and said, ‘Go straight forward, till
you come to a castle, before which lie a whole troop of
soldiers fast asleep and snoring: take no notice of them, but
go into the castle and pass on and on till you come to a
room, where the golden bird sits in a wooden cage; close
by it stands a beautiful golden cage; but do not try to take
the bird out of the shabby cage and put it into the
handsome one, otherwise you will repent it.’ Then the fox
stretched out his tail again, and the young man sat himself
down, and away they went over stock and stone till their
hair whistled in the wind.

Before the castle gate all was as the fox had said: so the
son went in and found the chamber where the golden bird
hung in a wooden cage, and below stood the golden cage,
and the three golden apples that had been lost were lying
close by it. Then thought he to himself, ‘It will be a very
droll thing to bring away such a fine bird in this shabby
cage’; so he opened the door and took hold of it and put it
into the golden cage. But the bird set up such a loud
scream that all the soldiers awoke, and they took him
prisoner and carried him before the king. The next
morning the court sat to judge him; and when all was
heard, it sentenced him to die, unless he should bring the
king the golden horse which could run as swiftly as the
wind; and if he did this, he was to have the golden bird
given him for his own.

So he set out once more on his journey, sighing, and in
great despair, when on a sudden his friend the fox met
him, and said, ‘You see now what has happened on
account of your not listening to my counsel. I will still,
however, tell you how to find the golden horse, if you
will do as I bid you. You must go straight on till you
come to the castle where the horse stands in his stall: by
his side will lie the groom fast asleep and snoring: take
away the horse quietly, but be sure to put the old leathern
saddle upon him, and not the golden one that is close by
it.’ Then the son sat down on the fox’s tail, and away they
went over stock and stone till their hair whistled in the
wind.

All went right, and the groom lay snoring with his
hand upon the golden saddle. But when the son looked at
the horse, he thought it a great pity to put the leathern
saddle upon it. ‘I will give him the good one,’ said he; ‘I
am sure he deserves it.’ As he took up the golden saddle
the groom awoke and cried out so loud, that all the guards
ran in and took him prisoner, and in the morning he was
again brought before the court to be judged, and was
sentenced to die. But it was agreed, that, if he could bring
thither the beautiful princess, he should live, and have the
bird and the horse given him for his own.

Then he went his way very sorrowful; but the old fox
came and said, ‘Why did not you listen to me? If you had,
you would have carried away both the bird and the horse;
yet will I once more give you counsel. Go straight on, and
in the evening you will arrive at a castle. At twelve o’clock
at night the princess goes to the bathing-house: go up to
her and give her a kiss, and she will let you lead her away;
but take care you do not suffer her to go and take leave of
her father and mother.’ Then the fox stretched out his tail,
and so away they went over stock and stone till their hair
whistled again.

As they came to the castle, all was as the fox had said,
and at twelve o’clock the young man met the princes
going to the bath and gave her the kiss, and she agreed to
run away with him, but begged with many tears that he
would let her take leave of her father. At first he refused,
but she wept still more and more, and fell at his feet, till at
last he consented; but the moment she came to her father’s
house the guards awoke and he was taken prisoner again.

Then he was brought before the king, and the king
said, ‘You shall never have my daughter unless in eight
days you dig away the hill that stops the view from my
window.’ Now this hill was so big that the whole world
could not take it away: and when he had worked for seven
days, and had done very little, the fox came and said. ‘Lie
down and go to sleep; I will work for you.’ And in the
morning he awoke and the hill was gone; so he went
merrily to the king, and told him that now that it was
removed he must give him the princess.

Then the king was obliged to keep his word, and away
went the young man and the princess; and the fox came
and said to him, ‘We will have all three, the princess, the
horse, and the bird.’ ‘Ah!’ said the young man, ‘that would
be a great thing, but how can you contrive it?’

’If you will only listen,’ said the fox, ‘it can be done.
When you come to the king, and he asks for the beautiful
princess, you must say, ‘Here she is!’ Then he will be very
joyful; and you will mount the golden horse that they are
to give you, and put out your hand to take leave of them;
but shake hands with the princess last. Then lift her
quickly on to the horse behind you; clap your spurs to his
side, and gallop away as fast as you can.’

All went right: then the fox said, ‘When you come to
the castle where the bird is, I will stay with the princess at
the door, and you will ride in and speak to the king; and
when he sees that it is the right horse, he will bring out
the bird; but you must sit still, and say that you want to
look at it, to see whether it is the true golden bird; and
when you get it into your hand, ride away.’

This, too, happened as the fox said; they carried off the
bird, the princess mounted again, and they rode on to a
great wood. Then the fox came, and said, ‘Pray kill me,
and cut off my head and my feet.’ But the young man
refused to do it: so the fox said, ‘I will at any rate give you
good counsel: beware of two things; ransom no one from
the gallows, and sit down by the side of no river.’ Then
away he went. ‘Well,’ thought the young man, ‘it is no
hard matter to keep that advice.’

He rode on with the princess, till at last he came to the
village where he had left his two brothers. And there he
heard a great noise and uproar; and when he asked what
was the matter, the people said, ‘Two men are going to be
hanged.’ As he came nearer, he saw that the two men
were his brothers, who had turned robbers; so he said,
‘Cannot they in any way be saved?’ But the people said
‘No,’ unless he would bestow all his money upon the
rascals and buy their liberty. Then he did not stay to think
about the matter, but paid what was asked, and his
brothers were given up, and went on with him towards
their home.

And as they came to the wood where the fox first met
them, it was so cool and pleasant that the two brothers
said, ‘Let us sit down by the side of the river, and rest a
while, to eat and drink.’ So he said, ‘Yes,’ and forgot the
fox’s counsel, and sat down on the side of the river; and
while he suspected nothing, they came behind, and threw
him down the bank, and took the princess, the horse, and
the bird, and went home to the king their master, and
said. ‘All this have we won by our labour.’ Then there was
great rejoicing made; but the horse would not eat, the bird
would not sing, and the princess wept.

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