The Golden Bird
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.