The Two Children and the Bird of Truth - Part Two

One of the swallows seemed to be from the country, and the other swallow was from the town.  The two birds narrated about the events in their particular places. That was when one of the swallows narrated the story of its own kingdom.

The king of my kingdom took a wife from a tailor's family. The king married the youngest daughter of the tailor and she was kind, gentle, and beautiful.

The other courtiers of the king did not want the king to marry such a girl. However the king would not hear of anything else and so the marriage was performed.

A few months after their marriage, war broke out between the kingdom and its neighbouring country.

The king left behind his queen and went to fight the Battle. After the king won the battle he came back home and he could not find his wife. 

He was told that while he was away his wife gave birth to twins, a girl and a boy. However, the girl and the boy were still born, and so the queen was beside herself with sadness and she had locked herself in the tower and did not want to see any one.

The swallow which was listening to the story turned to the narrator bird. "Were the twin children of the king dead?"

The Narrator-Swallow shook its head. "No, the chamberlain of the king put the babies in a cradle made of crystal and let the cradle float in the river. The cradle was found by a fisherman, and the twins were brought up as children of the fisherman."

"Where are those children now?" The other bird asked worriedly.

The narrator swallow shook its head. "After the children grow up, they will have to go back to their kingdom and tell their father who they are and help their mother get out of the tower. But it may not be such an easy task!" The narrator swallow finished in a grave voice. 

The other swallow was confused, "Why not?" 

The Narrator-Swallow continued. "In fact, the only way the children can prove who they are is to bring the Bird of Truth and make it speak to the king because the Bird of Truth can speak the language of humans, and it is the only one which can convince the king of what had happened to his children and his wife."

"Where is the Bird of Truth?" The swallow asked the question and even the children were paying rapt attention. They easily realized that this was their own story that the birds were narrating and they could understand this because they could follow the speech of birds.

The Narrator-Bird shook its head. "I do not know where the Bird of Truth is. However I asked a cuckoo about it, and the cuckoo told me that not far from here there is a castle in which a witch lives. The castle is called the Castle-of-come-and-never-go. The witch has kept the Bird of Truth captive and guarded by other birds so that the words of the Bird of Truth will not be heard by all. The only way the witch would tell a person about where the Bird of Truth is, if any person gets her the waters from the fountains of many colours. Further, the place where the Bird of Truth is kept is guarded by a giant who sleeps only three-fourth of an hour in the entire day."

"How do we find this bird even if we get to the castle?" The bird asked its final question.

The Narrator-Bird unhappily shook its head. "There is an owl which lives a hermit's life in a desert. The only human word that the owl knows is 'cross'. This owl is the only creature which knows how to find this Bird."

After this, the birds flew away from there. 

The two children who listened to the entire conversation knew what they had to do.

Adapted from Spanish folk Tales.

The Two Children and the Bird of Truth - Part One

There was once a poor fisherman who had eight children of his own. He worked very hard and tried to provide food for all his children and his wife. 

One day when the fisherman had gone to cast his net he saw a cradle made of crystal floating down the river. 

He threw his net and dragged the cradle towards him.  

Inside the cradle were two babies - a boy and a girl. 

The fisherman was filled with pity when he saw the babies and he took them home to his wife.

The fisherman's wife was in despair. “We already have eight children. How do you think we can feed two more?”

The fisherman shook his head. “I could not leave the two babies to die of hunger or be swallowed by the water. What we have enough for eight should be enough for ten. 

The wife said nothing else. 

The two children grew up as part of the fisherman's family. 

However the children of the fisherman were very quarrelsome, and these two children were quiet and very well-behaved. The other children often used to play tricks on these two children and the two children did not retaliate.

The two children often used to spend time by themselves here, the river. They would take a bit of bread from the breakfast and give it to the birds. In return the grateful birds taught the two children about their own language, and this was not something that all humans could follow.

However, back to the two little orphans, it was very difficult for them at their house and their foster siblings.

One day matters went so bad that the eldest of the fisherman's sons asked the two of them to leave the place because according to the fisherman’s children, the two children only had the river to call their own, like the toads and the frogs. 

The children were very sad when they heard this and they walked away from the fisherman's home, vowing never to return.

The children walked on and on deep into the forest, and by evening, they saw a hut in the forest. They thought that they could ask for the help of the people in the hut. However, unfortunately, the hut seemed empty.

Seeing this, the two children were very unhappy. But they decided to rest here and then come up with a plan for their future. 

At this time, there were many swallows on the roof of the hut. 

The swallows did not know that the children could understand their language and the birds freely gossiped with each other.

Adapted from Spanish Fairy Tales

The Story of the Two Sisters and the Casket - Part Four

The stepmother decided that because she could not steal the black box and its contents she would try to get another one like it, probably even a richer one. 

So she had her daughter sit on the edge of the well and she threw her daughter into the water as exactly as she had done to her stepdaughter. This time her own daughter fell into the flowery meadow.

The stepsister walked on the same path as the other girl but things were not the same this time.

When the Fence prayed her not to hurt it the girl laughed rudely and tore some part of the fence to get over it more easily.

The oven offered her free food too. But this time, the girl scattered the loaves of bread on the ground and was careless. 

After she milked the cow, she threw the rest of the milk on the grass and threw the bucket away.

She met the old woman but was rude to the woman and ignored her. When the old woman asked her to comb her hair the girl rudely refused to do so.

The girl arrived at the farm all by herself and she, like her stepsister, was engaged to look after the cows and sift the corn.

But she did work at the farmhouse only when someone was watching, and she kept the cow house dirty and she was also not kind to any of the animals there. Further she chased the cats away. The girl did not give the sparrows any spare corn either. She threw her shoes at the birds and they flew in towards the woods and took shelter among the trees.

The farmer's wife finally called her. "All you have done here is wrong. Neither can you care for the cows nor do you handle the corn well, still I will give you a chance." The farmer's wife gave the sieve to the girl. "Take the sieve to the well and fill it with water."

The girl tried two or three times but she did not receive any help and she came back to the farmhouse without completing the task given to her.

The Farmer's wife was angry and realized that the girl was completely useless. However, the farmer's wife thought that at least after the incident the girl would have learnt her lesson. 

However her work after this incident was also not any better than before.

The farmer's wife gave her the same two tasks that she gave the girl's stepsister. This time, the stepsister could not fulfill any of this. 

The girl had spent a year on the farm, and the girl wanted to go home. The farmer's wife happily wanted to let her go away. But because she had lived here the farmer's wife offered the girl the same choice - she could go to the loft and pick one of the caskets there.

This is what the girl wanted and without stopping to thank the farmer's wife, she ran to the loft as fast as she could.

This time, too, there was a small black casket on the side. 

However, the girl chose the big red casket and realized that this would hold far too many jewels, than that small black one. 

She snatched the casket and went away from the farmhouse without bidding farewell to the farmer's wife.

Mother and daughter opened the casket.

But this time hot flames came out of the casket and they spread around the house very fast. The cottage and its surroundings were burnt up far too quickly even before the neighbours could come. 

The mother and daughter vanished, never to be seen after the fire.

It was only the outhouse which survived the fire.

There the step daughter lived happily with her riches till the end of her days.

Adapted from Scandinavian Fairy Tales

The Story of the Two Sisters and the Caskets - Part Three

Even as the girl was sad, a procession of cats came inside the room. "What is the matter?" The cats asked the girl. 

"The farmer's wife has given me a job and I cannot seem to weave this into a cloth. She has asked me to finish this job by sundown. I am afraid that I have not even started it." The girl told the cats in utter despair.

"Is that all?" The cats asked. "We will do it for you."

The cats jumped on the loom and they wove the yarn. The cats worked very well and in a very short time the cloth was ready and was as fine as could be. 

The girl was so delighted that she kissed every cat on its forehead. 

The farmer's wife was stunned to see the yarn. “Who has taught you to do this?” 

The girl this time too only smiled, and she did not reply.  

After that, the farmer's wife sent for her maid and told her that she was free to return home. But for her year of service, the farmer's wife was willing to offer her anything more. The farmer’s wife even offered the girl to stay here with her forever. 

The girl however shook her head. “I have been happy here and I thank you for what you have done for me. However, I have left a stepsister and a stepmother behind and I have to be with them.” 

The farmer's wife studied the girl. “I want to give you a reward. Go to the loft above the storehouse. There you will find many caskets. Choose the one which you want.  Take one of the caskets to your home, but do not open it till you come to your home."

The girl went to the loft. The cats followed her in a procession. There, she saw that the loft was filled with caskets of all sizes, shapes and colours. She did not know what to choose. 

That is when she heard the voice of the cats behind her. "Take the black." 

The girl looked around the loft but she could not find a black casket. 

Finally, she found a black casket beneath all the other caskets and it was very small.

But the girl trusted the cats and she took the black casket to the farmer's wife. “This is what I would like to take from the loft.” 

The farmer's wife smiled and bade her to go her way.  

After that, the girl walked away bidding farewell to the cows, the cats, and the sparrows who were very sad to see her go. 

She finally reached the flowery meadow into which she had fallen in this place. She could not believe it because immediately from there she found herself in the wall of the well into which her stepmother had pushed her into, which had started the whole thing.  

The stepmother and the stepsister stared at the girl, unable to believe what they were seeing. They could not believe how the girl had made it back alive.

The girl told the stepmother of how she had gotten a job in the other world, and she had gotten her wages and the small casket at the end of her work. 

The stepmother grabbed the money from the girl and looked angrily at her. “Take that ugly box to the outhouse.” 

The outhouse was very dirty because nobody had been there since the girl had fallen down the well. 

But the girl scrubbed and cleaned everything and made it beautiful again. 

She decided that this was going to be her home, and she opened the casket there.  

When the girl opened, the light struck from the black box dazzled everyone around the place. The black box held beautiful and precious things like crowns and necklaces, all made of gold and wonderful stones. The jewelry shone with such brightness that all the people around came running to see if the outhouse was on fire.

On seeing this the stepmother was very greedy. She would have definitely taken all the jewels for herself. However, the neighbours had also seen the jewels and they knew that the jewels belonged to the girl, and that was the reason that the stepmother could not take it and claim that it was her own.

Adapted from Scandinavian Fairy Tales

The story of the Two Sisters and the Caskets - Part Two

The girl took care of the cow house very well and kept it clean. She also fed the cows and kept them very happy. This was the reason that the cows did not play any tricks with her while she milked them. 

When she had finished milking she found around her a whole circle of cats who cried for some milk from her. 

Then she went to the dairy and gave each of the cats a red saucerful of milk. 

The cats were very happy. 

After that, the girl went to the store house to sift the corn. 

Then she was busy rubbing the corn, she heard a whirr of wings and saw a flock of sparrows fly past the window. 

“We are hungry. Please give us some corn.” The sparrows cried to her.

“Of course, you shall have some,” the girl said, and she took a handful of corn and scattered it on the floor.

When they had finished, they flew past her shoulder and flapped their wings as a way of thanking her. 

As time went by, the cows in the whole countryside were fat and well-tended and no other dairy produced so much milk as her. 

The farmer's wife was very happy with her and gave her high wages and treated her like her own daughter. 

Once the farmer's wife called her and took her aside, she gave the young girl a sieve. “Take this to the well and fill it with water and bring it home to me without spilling a drop, by the way.”

The young girl looked at the sieve and her heart sank. She did not know how to do the task. She went to the well with the sieve stooping over the side and she filled the sieve to the brim. 

But as soon as she lifted it, the water all ran out of the holes. 

She just did not know what to do and was filled with despair.

A flock of sparrows flew past down the sky, "Ashes, ashes," they twittered.

The girl then ran to the kitchen and filled her sieve with ashes. Then once more she dipped the sieve into the well and this time not a drop of water disappeared.

"Here is the sieve with water." The girl told the farmer's wife. 

The farmer's wife was surprised. "You are cleverer than I thought or someone else who is killed in magic is helping you." 

However, the girl did not want to get the little birds and animals in trouble and did not tell the farmer's wife about who had helped her.

The farmer's wife also did not question her any further.

Many days had passed after which the farmer's wife called her again. "There are two yarns in my hand, one of them is white and the other is black. You must wash them in the river till the black one becomes white and the white yarn becomes black." 

The girl took the yarns to the river and washed them for several hours. But the yarn did not change its colour.

She was in despair when she saw a birch tree near the river, and by each branch of the tree was a sparrow.

“The black to the East, the white to the West.”  The sparrow sang.

The girl realized what the words meant, and she picked up the black yarn and faced the East and dipped it in the river. Immediately the yarn grew white as snow. Then she turned to the West and dipped the white yarn in the water, and it became as black as the night. 

She looked at the sparrows and smiled.  The birds flew away. 

At the sight of the yarm, the farmer's wife was astonished. 

She looked at the girl again. “Which magician helped you do this?”

However, the young girl did not answer again. 

A few weeks after that, the family's wife shot herself in her room. 

Finally, she appeared before the young girl. “There is one more task which you must do for me. Here are the two yarns which you washed. Take them and weave them into a web that is as smooth as the king's robe and see that it is spun by the time that the sun sets.”

The girl was a good spinner. And she thought that this was the easiest task that she had been given. However every time she started on the yarn, the skein tangled and broke.

She was in despair and did not know how to complete this task.

Adapted From Scandinavian Fairy Tales

The Story of the Two Sisters and the Caskets - Part One

In the middle of a pine forest there lived a woman with two daughters. One of the daughters was her own, and the other was her step daughter. 

The woman very often ill treated her step daughter and took good care of her own child.

Once the woman said an impossibly difficult competition for the stepdaughter to finish. She asked both the girls to spend while sitting on the low wall of the well. 

After that the woman had warned both the girls that the girl whose thread would break first would be thrown into the bottom of the well. The woman gave her own daughter good and strong flax and gave her stepdaughter some very coarse material that would break easily. Naturally the step daughter's materials broke.

After this the woman angrily threw the stepdaughter into the well. 

The girl went down and down into the well, but she did not die. She had actually gone through another land. 

There she found the field more beautiful, trees with soft breeze and bright flowers dancing everywhere.  She was very happy here, and she walked on as she desired. 

She came up to an old and broken fence. She wondered how the fence even stood up. 

She stared at the fence when she heard a voice. "Do not hurt me little maiden. I am old and I may not have much longer to live." 

The girl shook her head and told the fence because it was indeed the fence who had spoken to the girl. "I will not hurt you." 

So instead climbing over the fence the girl jumped over the fence.

The fence thanked the girl and she walked on a path which ran between two flowery hedges. 

There was an oven and on it she saw white loaves. "Take as many as you want, but do not hurt me."

It was indeed the oven which had spoken to the girl.

Hearing that, the girl shook her head. "I will not hurt you." 

She was very grateful for the oven's kindness, and she finished every single loaf down to the last crumb and shut the oven door.

The oven also thanked her, and she went her way.  

The girl was very thirsty, and that was when she saw a cow with a milk bucket hanging on its horn. The cow turned to the girl. "Milk me and drink as much as you will, Little girl." The cow told the girl, "but do not spill any of it on the ground and do not hurt me for I have never heard anyone." 

The girl shook her head. "I have also not hurt anyone."  

So she milked the cow until the bucket was nearly filled, and she drank all of it except a little drop at the bottom. 

"Now throw any that is left over my hoofs and hang the bucket on my horns again." The cow told the girl did as she was asked and kissed the cow on its forehead and went her way.  

Then as the girl walked on, it was getting dark. 

At that time, she saw an old woman.

A girl looked around wondering where she could spend the night. "Good evening," the girl told the old woman.  The girl was very polite and she told the woman how she had ended up here. "I am in search of a place for the night." 

The old woman smiled at the girl. "You are very polite, please wait here and comb my hair and at that time you can tell me all the things that you can do so that I can suggest a proper place for you." 

A girl happily combed the old woman's hair and told her all the things that she could do. 

The old woman looked at her combed hair and was very happy. "You can go further and you will find the house there. Be wise and patient and all will go well in the house." 

The girl thanked her and set out for a farm a little distance away. 

And there she was engaged in a farmhouse to milk the calls and sift the corn there.

Adapted from Scandinavian Fairy Tales