orange fairy book

Chapter 26 The Bird of Truth (1)

Once upon a time, there was a very poor fisherman who lived in a hut on the bank of a small river.This small river is far away from the noise of the town, with tall trees shielding it from the glare of the sun, and accompanied by the singing of birds, it flows quietly among the trees.

One day, the fisherman went out to fish with his net as usual.Suddenly, he saw a crystal cradle floating towards him on the river. He immediately cast out his fishing net and dragged the cradle ashore. He lifted the silk coverlet covering it and saw two babies lying on the soft bed inside. in his cradle, smiling at him with his eyes open.When he saw the two children, he fell in love with them so much that he dropped his fishing net and hurriedly took the two children home to show to his wife.

The kind wife hugged her head in despair when she saw the baby in the cradle.

"We already have eight children of our own, isn't that enough?" she cried. "Give us two more? How do you say we will feed them?"

"But you can't bear to watch them starve to death, or be swept away by the waves?" he replied, "We can feed eight children, but we can also feed ten children."

The wife didn't say anything more, to be honest, she also felt very sorry for these two little things.Although they are poor, they have never run out of food, and there is always a way to get food.

The two children grew up to be kind and gentle.The fisherman's biological children were noisy and jealous all day long, and the couple liked these two children more than their own biological children.The orphans soon saw that the fisherman's sons didn't like them, so the two of them would often go away knowingly and spend a few hours by the creek, taking out the few dollars they had saved at breakfast Bread, crumbled into crumbs for the birds.In return, the birds taught them many things, such as how to sing and how to speak a bird language that few people could understand.

However, although the two orphans have tried their best to avoid the fisherman's sons, it is still difficult to maintain the peace of the family, and the contradictions are getting bigger and bigger.Finally, one day, the fisherman's eldest son said to them, "You two are very good at putting on a show, and you are acting cute all the time. At least we have parents, and you, like frogs and toads, only have the river."

These two poor children were so insulted, but they did not answer a word. They discussed it quietly, and decided that they could not stay at home any longer, and must seek their way out in the outside world.

The next day they got up as early as the birds, and crept downstairs without disturbing anyone.One of the windows was open, and they crept out quietly to the river, feeling as if they had found a friend.They walked along the river, hoping that they might soon meet some kind soul to help them.

They walked like this for a whole day without seeing a soul, and at night they were tired and their feet ached, and when they saw a hut ahead, they lifted their spirits and walked through it, but the door was closed.The hut seemed unoccupied, but they couldn't get in, and they were almost crying with disappointment.Finally, the boy held back his tears and pretended to be happy and said to the girl: "Anyway, there is a bench at the door, we can sit for a while and have a rest, and think about what to do next."

So they sat down.At first they were too tired to pay attention to anything around them, and soon they noticed a flock of sparrows under the tiles of the roof, chirping happily.The two of them knew the language of birds, so they began to listen to what the sparrows were talking about.Of course, these sparrows didn't know that the two children could understand them, otherwise they wouldn't be so free to say whatever they thought.

"Good evening, elegant lady!" said one sparrow to another, who looked particularly elegant.In comparison, the one who spoke was very vulgar and rustic. She said: "It's a pleasure to see you! You have lived in the palace for many years, and you still come back to visit our country friends! I thought you had forgotten us." Woolen cloth!"

"This nest was left to me by my parents. Since they left it to me, this is of course my home." The sparrow from the city said politely, "Are you and your family all right?"

"Well, well, really. It's just that my poor daughter had an eye infection not long ago, and if she can't find some magic herb to cure her eyes, she'll go blind."

"How is the nightingale singing lately? Does the lark fly as high as before? Does the linnet dress as tastefully as ever?"

Then the country sparrow straightened up.

"I never gossip behind people's backs," she said seriously. "We used to be so innocent and polite, but now, it's a pity, we've been led astray by the bad examples of human beings."

"What! Birds are not simple and polite? Even in the country? My dear friend, what are you talking about?"

"It's true. To tell you, we came back and met some cardinals. It's spring and the days are getting longer, and they're going off to the cold north. We're just out of sympathy, I tried to persuade them not to do such stupid things, but they treated us with extreme arrogance."

"How is this!" cried the sparrow in the city.

"Yes, that's right. To make matters worse, the crested skylark, who was so timid and shy before, became a thief, and stole corn and rice back whenever he found them. "

"Hearing you say that, I really can't believe it!"

"And what's even more unbelievable! I came back here last summer to find my nest occupied by a shameless sparrow. I said to him: 'This is my nest.' He laughed rudely got up and answered, 'Your?' I said, 'Yes, mine, my ancestors were born here, and my sons will be born here.' My husband fought with him , kicked him out. There is absolutely nothing like this happening in the city.”

"Maybe or not, I've seen a lot of things like this—you should know that too!"

"Oh, tell me! Tell me!" they cried together.

So, when the sparrows were all comfortable and found a place to stay, the sparrows in the city began to say: "You should already know that our king is in love with a tailor's daughter, who is not only beautiful, but also has a good heart." Well, the manners are elegant. But the ministers in the palace wanted the king to choose one of their daughters as queen, so they tried every means to prevent them from getting married. But the king insisted on marrying the tailor's daughter. Within a few months, it broke out There was a war, the king led the army to go out, but the queen stayed in the palace, and she was very unhappy with the temporary separation from the king. When the war was over and the king came back, someone told the king that the queen died while he was away. They had two children, but they died in infancy. The queen herself became insane, and they had to shut her up in a tower on the hill, where fresh air might cure her."

"Isn't what he said true?" asked the sparrows eagerly.

"Of course not," said the city sparrow, with a little contempt for them. "The two children were in the gardener's house, and they were alive and well, but in the evening, the king's servants came and put them in." In a crystal cradle, I took them to the river and let them float down the river. Although the water was deep, the water was calm, and they floated safely on the river for a whole day without any harm. Later, my friend Kingfisher Tell me that the next morning they were picked up by a fisherman who lived near the bank."

The two children have been lying on the bench, listening to the chatter of the sparrows.But when they heard this, they remembered what their adoptive mother always liked to tell them about the crystal cradle, and they sat up, looking at each other, looking at each other.

"Hey, it's good to learn the bird language!" said one to the other with a glance.

Then the sparrow spoke again.

"Lucky for them!" they cried.

"When the children grow up, they can go back to their fathers and set their mothers free."

"It's not as simple as you think," said the city sparrow, shaking his head, "because if they want to do this, they must prove that they are the king's children, and that their mother is not crazy at all. To be honest, It is too difficult, and there is only one way to prove it to the king."

"What way?" All the sparrows immediately asked in unison, "How do you know?"

"Of course I know," replied the city sparrow, "because one day when I was flying over the palace gardens, I met a cuckoo bird, which pretended to be able to predict the future all day long. We began to talk. Some things that happened in the palace and the past few years. He said: "Ah, now there is only one bird that can expose the sinister intentions of the ministers and tell the king the mistakes he made. This is the bird of truth that can speak human words." ’ I asked: ‘Then where can I find the truth bird?’ The cuckoo replied: ‘It is locked in a castle. The name of that castle is No Return. A giant sleeps only a quarter of an hour out of twenty-four hours.'”

"And where is the castle?" asked the country sparrow.He, like the other sparrows, and the two children were all enthralled.

"Then I don't know," said the sparrow in the city. "All I can tell you is that there is a tower not far from here, and there lives a witch in the tower. She knows the way to the castle, but let the witch guide you to the castle." Lu, must promise to help her go to the castle to get colored spring water, because she will use the spring water to cast spells. But even if she guides the way to the castle, she will never tell where the bird of truth is hiding, because she hates the bird of truth, She didn't want anyone to find it. She knew that the truth bird would not die, it was immortal, so she locked up the truth bird and sent the unfaithful bird to watch it day and night. The unfaithful bird managed to plug its mouth. mouth, so that the bird of truth will be speechless."

"Is there no one else who can tell those poor children where the truth bird is?" asked the country sparrow.

"There is no one," replied the sparrow in the city, "unless it is the owl that lives in seclusion in the desert, it can only say one human word, which is 'cross', so even if the little prince really finds the owl, he will Can't understand what it's saying. Oh look, the sun is setting and I'm going home. Good night, friends, good night!"

(End of this chapter)