The Golden Blackbird

: The Green Fairy Book

Once upon a time there was a great lord who had three sons. He

fell very ill, sent for doctors of every kind, even bonesetters,

but they, none of them, could find out what was the matter with

him, or even give him any relief. At last there came a foreign

doctor, who declared that the Golden Blackbird alone could cure

the sick man.



So the old lord despatched his eldest son to look for the

wond rful bird, and promised him great riches if he managed to

find it and bring it back.



The young man began his journey, and soon arrived at a place where

four roads met. He did not know which to choose, and tossed his

cap in the air, determining that the direction of its fall should

decide him. After travelling for two or three days, he grew tired

of walking without knowing where or for how long, and he stopped

at an inn which was filled with merrymakers and ordered something

to eat and drink.



'My faith,' said he, 'it is sheer folly to waste more time hunting

for this bird. My father is old, and if he dies I shall inherit

his goods.'



The old man, after waiting patiently for some time, sent his

second son to seek the Golden Blackbird. The youth took the same

direction as his brother, and when he came to the cross roads, he

too tossed up which road he should take. The cap fell in the same

place as before, and he walked on till he came to the spot where

his brother had halted. The latter, who was leaning out of the

window of the inn, called to him to stay where he was and amuse

himself.



'You are right,' replied the youth. 'Who knows if I should ever

find the Golden Blackbird, even if I sought the whole world

through for it. At the worst, if the old man dies, we shall have

his property.'



He entered the inn and the two brothers made merry and feasted,

till very soon their money was all spent. They even owed something

to their landlord, who kept them as hostages till they could pay

their debts.



The youngest son set forth in his turn, and he arrived at the

place where his brothers were still prisoners. They called to him

to stop, and did all they could to prevent his going further.



'No,' he replied, 'my father trusted me, and I will go all over

the world till I find the Golden Blackbird.'



'Bah,' said his brothers, 'you will never succeed any better than

we did. Let him die if he wants to; we will divide the property.'



As he went his way he met a little hare, who stopped to look at

him, and asked:



'Where are you going, my friend?'



'I really don't quite know,' answered he. 'My father is ill, and

he cannot be cured unless I bring him back the Golden Blackbird.

It is a long time since I set out, but no one can tell me where to

find it.'



'Ah,' said the hare, 'you have a long way to go yet. You will have

to walk at least seven hundred miles before you get to it.'



'And how am I to travel such a distance?'



'Mount on my back,' said the little hare, 'and I will conduct

you.'



The young man obeyed: at each bound the little hare went seven

miles, and it was not long before they reached a castle that was

as large and beautiful as a castle could be.



'The Golden Blackbird is in a little cabin near by,' said the

little hare, 'and you will easily find it. It lives in a little

cage, with another cage beside it made all of gold. But whatever

you do, be sure not to put it in the beautiful cage, or everybody

in the castle will know that you have stolen it.'



The youth found the Golden Blackbird standing on a wooden perch,

but as stiff and rigid as if he was dead. And beside the beautiful

cage was the cage of gold.



'Perhaps he would revive if I were to put him in that lovely

cage,' thought the youth.



The moment that Golden Bird had touched the bars of the splendid

cage he awoke, and began to whistle, so that all the servants of

the castle ran to see what was the matter, saying that he was a

thief and must be put in prison.



'No,' he answered, 'I am not a thief. If I have taken the Golden

Blackbird, it is only that it may cure my father, who is ill, and

I have travelled more than seven hundred miles in order to find

it.'



'Well,' they replied, 'we will let you go, and will even give you

the Golden Bird, if you are able to bring us the Porcelain

Maiden.'



The youth departed, weeping, and met the little hare, who was

munching wild thyme.



'What are you crying for, my friend?' asked the hare.



'It is because,' he answered, 'the castle people will not allow me

to carry off the Golden Blackbird without giving them the

Porcelain Maiden in exchange.'



'You have not followed my advice,' said the little hare. 'And you

have put the Golden Bird into the fine cage.'



'Alas! yes!'



'Don't despair! the Porcelain Maiden is a young girl, beautiful as

Venus, who dwells two hundred miles from here. Jump on my back and

I will take you there.'



The little hare, who took seven miles in a stride, was there in no

time at all, and he stopped on the borders of a lake.



'The Porcelain Maiden,' said the hare to the youth, 'will come

here to bathe with her friends, while I just eat a mouthful of

thyme to refresh me. When she is in the lake, be sure you hide her

clothes, which are of dazzling whiteness, and do not give them

back to her unless she consents to follow you.'



The little hare left him, and almost immediately the Porcelain

Maiden arrived with her friends. She undressed herself and got

into the water. Then the young man glided up noiselessly and laid

hold of her clothes, which he hid under a rock at some distance.



When the Porcelain Maiden was tired of playing in the water she

came out to dress herself, but, though she hunted for her clothes

high and low, she could find them nowhere. Her friends helped her

in the search, but, seeing at last that it was of no use, they

left her, alone on the bank, weeping bitterly.



'Why do you cry?' said the young man, approaching her.



'Alas!' answered she, 'while I was bathing someone stole my

clothes, and my friends have abandoned me.'



'I will find your clothes if you will only come with me.'



And the Porcelain Maiden agreed to follow him, and after having

given up her clothes, the young man bought a small horse for her,

which went like the wind. The little hare brought them both back

to seek for the Golden Blackbird, and when they drew near to the

castle where it lived the little hero said to the young man:



'Now, do be a little sharper than you were before, and you will

manage to carry off both the Golden Blackbird and the Porcelain

Maiden. Take the golden cage in one hand, and leave the bird in

the old cage where he is, and bring that away too.'



The little hare then vanished; the youth did as he was bid, and

the castle servants never noticed that he was carrying off the

Golden Bird. When he reached the inn where his brothers were

detained, he delivered them by paying their debt. They set out all

together, but as the two elder brothers were jealous of the

success of the youngest, they took the opportunity as they were

passing by the shores of a lake to throw themselves upon him,

seize the Golden Bird, and fling him in the water. Then they

continued their journey, taking with them the Porcelain Maiden, in

the firm belief that their brother was drowned. But, happily, he

had snatched in falling at a tuft of rushes and called loudly for

help. The little hare came running to him, and said 'Take hold of

my leg and pull yourself out of the water.'



When he was safe on shore the little hare said to him:



'Now this is what you have to do: dress yourself like a Breton

seeking a place as stable-boy, and go and offer your services to

your father. Once there, you will easily be able to make him

understand the truth.'



The young man did as the little hare bade him, and he went to his

father's castle and enquired if they were not in want of a stable-

boy.



'Yes,' replied his father, 'very much indeed. But it is not an

easy place. There is a little horse in the stable which will not

let anyone go near it, and it has already kicked to death several

people who have tried to groom it.'



'I will undertake to groom it,' said the youth. 'I never saw the

horse I was afraid of yet.' The little horse allowed itself to be

rubbed down without a toss of its head and without a kick.



'Good gracious!' exclaimed the master; 'how is it that he lets you

touch him, when no one else can go near him?'



'Perhaps he knows me,' answered the stable-boy.



Two or three days later the master said to him: 'The Porcelain

Maiden is here: but, though she is as lovely as the dawn, she is

so wicked that she scratches everyone that approaches her. Try if

she will accept your services.'



When the youth entered the room where she was, the Golden

Blackbird broke forth into a joyful song, and the Porcelain Maiden

sang too, and jumped for joy.



'Good gracious!' cried the master. 'The Porcelain Maiden and the

Golden Blackbird know you too?'



'Yes,' replied the youth, 'and the Porcelain Maiden can tell you

the whole truth, if she only will.'



Then she told all that had happened, and how she had consented to

follow the young man who had captured the Golden Blackbird.



'Yes,' added the youth, 'I delivered my brothers, who were kept

prisoners in an inn, and, as a reward, they threw me into a lake.

So I disguised myself and came here, in order to prove the truth

to you.'



So the old lord embraced his son, and promised that he should

inherit all his possessions, and he put to death the two elder

ones, who had deceived him and had tried to slay their own

brother.



The young man married the Porcelain Maiden, and had a splendid

wedding-feast.