The Two Children and the Bird of Truth. - Part Four

The old woman called a very thin dog to her. "Take this child to the Castle-of-come-and-never-go."

The dog walked towards the castle and the boy followed it.

After two hours of walking, they stopped in front of a large castle. The castle's door was wide open, but it was big, black and dull. 

The dog on seeing the castle let out wild howls. 

However, the boy was uncertain whether this was the quarter of the hour when the giant was asleep and hesitated to follow the dog any further. 

The boy waited under a wild olive tree which was the only tree near the castle. He looked around for help, and that was when she heard a voice from the tree. 

“Cross! Cross.” The voice said. 

The boy realized that this was the owl about which the swallow had spoken about. 

The boy immediately spoke in the bird’s language. “Please guide me in my search for the Bird of Truth.  But before that, I have to fill this jar with the many coloured water from the courtyard of the castle.” 

The owl was first surprised that the boy spoke its language but then the bird recovered. “Do not fill the jar from the water in the courtyard. Fill the jar from the spring which bubbles close to the fountain.” The owl continued. “After that, go to the aviary opposite to the great door. Be careful not to touch any of the bright coloured birds in it. All these birds will cry out that it is the bird of truth. But that is a lie. Choose only a small white bird that is hidden in a corner. The other birds will incessantly try to kill this bird because they do not know that this bird cannot be killed. And be very quick because at this moment the giant has fallen asleep, and you have only a quarter of an hour to do everything.”

The boy ran as fast as he could, and he entered the courtyard where he saw the two springs close together. He passed by the first spring of many coloured water without looking at it, and he filled the jar from the fountain whose water was clear and pure.

He then entered the castle. He was shocked when he heard the birds, because the birds were clamouring so loudly that he could barely hear anything beyond that. He could make out that all the birds were saying the same thing.  They were all claiming to be the Bird of Truth.

Ignoring all of it, he at last found the bird that he was looking for. The boy took the bird and kept it safely in his hands as he went out of the castle. 

Once he was outside, he ran without stopping and came to the witch's tower. He gave the witch the jar that he had collected.

The witch was, however, furious on seeing the water. She picked up the water and flung it on the boy. She muttered a spell to make the boy into a parrot. However, the water was enchanted for good and not to perform evil. So instead of turning into a parrot the boy became ten times more handsome. 

After this the other creatures in the witch's tower also changed and became human beings again. 

The witch saw this, and she was terrified and she took her broomstick and flew away. 

The sister was very thrilled to see her brother with the Bird of Truth.  

However, they had a bigger problem because they had to get the Bird of Truth to the king without the wicked courtiers knowing about it. For it was the courtiers who had even made sure that two children did not say their father. 

However, slowly, news spread around the Kingdom about the Bird of Truth. When the courtiers heard this, they prepared to stop the bird from reaching the king.  They got their weapons sharpened, some even poisoned. They even sent eagles and falcons to hunt down the bird. 

However, none of this helped the courtiers because they talked so much about the Bird of Truth that the king himself wished to see it.  

The king ordered anyone who had the Bird of Truth to bring it to him. On hearing this proclamation, the boy and the girl together went to the. Palace with the bird. 

The courtiers tried stopping them. But they could not because the two children were just following the king's commands. On seeing the king, the bird explained how the two children had found it and brought it here.

After hearing this, the two children went back to their castle with the queen. The wicked courtiers were banished and their property was taken away. The good fisherman and his wife were giving riches and honour and were loved and cherished.

Adapted from Spanish Folk Tales