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