orange fairy book

Chapter 27 The Bird of Truth (2)

All the sparrows flew away, only the two children remained.They forgot their hunger and fatigue, and were completely immersed in joy after hearing these strange things.They got up, and walked in the direction of the city where the sparrows flew, and after walking for two hours, they came to a great city, which they thought must be the capital of their father's kingdom.They saw a house with a good-hearted lady standing in front of the door, so they asked to stay with her for one night. The lady liked the two children very much and welcomed them warmly. They come in.

The next day, when it was daylight, the girl got up and helped the wife clean the room, and the boy watered the garden.When the lady got up and came downstairs, the work was done.The madam was very pleased, and begged the children to stay with her.The boy replied that he would be glad to keep his sister, but he had important business to do himself and could not stay.So the boy said good-bye to his wife and sister, and set out alone on the road to find their mother.

For three days he wandered in the remote wilderness without seeing a trace of the tower.On the morning of the fourth day, he still couldn't find it. He was so disappointed that he lay on his back under a tree and covered his face with his hands.Presently he heard a rustling overhead, and looking up he saw a turtledove looking at him with bright eyes.

"Hi, Turtledove!" cried the boy, in the Turtledove's language, and greeted it. "Hi, Turtledove! Tell me, I beseech you, where can I find the Witch who lives in the Tower?"

"Poor boy," replied the Turtledove, "who sent you to do this dangerous thing?"

"I came looking for it myself," replied the boy, "and I don't know if it was luck or bad luck."

"To find the Witch," said the Turtledove, "you must follow the wind, which is blowing in her direction today."

The boy thanked the turtledove and went away with the wind.Along the way, he was always worried about whether the wind would change direction and take him astray, but the wind seemed to take pity on him, and kept blowing firmly in one direction.

As he walked, the sky became more and more gloomy. When night fell, the boy saw some bare black stones in front of him. Behind the stones was the tower where the witch lived.He came to the door of the tower, grabbed the knocker, and knocked hard three times. The echoes from the surrounding stones were terrifying.

The door opened slowly, and an old woman stood on the threshold, holding a candle in her hand, surrounded by groups of lizards, beetles and other scary things. Her face was so ugly that the boy stepped back involuntarily.

"Who are you to knock on the door and wake me up?" she cried. "Tell me what you want to do, or I'll catch you."

"Ma'am," replied the boy, "I think you alone know the way to the castle, and I beg you to tell me."

"Yes," said the Witch, with a meaningful smile, "but today is too late, and you can go tomorrow. Come in now, and go and sleep with my lizard."

"I cannot stay here," he said, "I must find my way to the castle at once."

"I can tell you, but you have to do one thing for me. There is a colorful spring in the courtyard of the castle of no return. You have to help me fill this jar with spring water and bring it back," she said, "if If you promise to fail, I will make you a lizard forever."

"Okay, I promise you." The boy said.

So the old witch called a very thin dog, and said to it, "Take this little devil to the castle that never returns, and bring him back." The dog stood up, shook himself, and set off. up.

After walking for two hours, they came to a big, dark and gloomy castle.The gate of the castle was open, but there was no sound or light inside, and it was impossible to see whether it was inhabited.The dog seemed to know how to go, and after a wild bark, it continued to walk forward.But the boy, not sure whether it was exactly the quarter of an hour when the giant was dozing, was hesitant to follow him in, for if the giant was awake they would be found.So he stopped for a while under a wild olive tree nearby. "Oh my God, help me!" he said.

"Cross! Cross!" answered a voice.

The boy recognized the sound of the owl as the sparrow had said, and jumped up for joy.Because the owl can't speak human words, the boy whispered in the owl language: "Wise owl, I beg you to protect me and show me the way. Jars filled with colored spring water."

"No, no," replied the owl, "there is another bubbling spring beside the colored spring, and fill it in this jar instead. Then go through the gate to the cage opposite. But be careful not to touch the feathers inside." Brightly colored birds, because each of them will call to you that it is the real bird, but in fact they are not, you have to find the little white bird lying in the corner, it is the real bird. Other birds do not know It's an immortal bird, so keep trying to kill it. Be quick when you do these things! Then the Giant goes to sleep, and you have only a quarter of an hour to do all the work."

The boy then ran quickly into the courtyard, where he saw the two streams of water touching each other.He passed the colorful spring without even looking, but went straight to another spring, and filled the jar with clear and pure water.Then he hurried to the cage.Peacocks, ravens, and magpies all cried out that they were birds of truth. The boy walked past them firmly and came to the corner. The little white bird he was looking for was there, surrounded by several vicious crows. The unfaithful bird that guards it is singing.He carefully placed the little white bird on his chest and walked out.

As soon as he was out, he rushed to the witch's tower without stopping, and gave the jar to the witch.

The witch sprinkled water on the boy and cried, "Turn into a parrot!" However, the boy was not transformed as the witch had hoped, but became ten times more handsome than before.It turned out that the spring water was enchanted with immortality, and the colorful spring was enchanted with magic. In the past, other people were enchanted like this and turned into lizards and other animals.Now, seeing the monsters crawling around the Witch, they hurried to roll in the water that was spilled on the ground, then stood up and regained their human form.

After seeing it, the witch knew that her plot had been seen through, so she flew away on a broomstick.

The boy took the bird of truth back to the city to find his sister. One can imagine how happy the sister was when she saw the bird of truth brought back by her brother!But now, although the bird of truth has been found, there is still a tricky thing, that is, how to bring the bird of truth to the king without being discovered by those evil ministers.

Soon, there was news that the bird of truth was flying over the palace.Those ministers tried every means to prevent it from approaching the king. They knew that once the conspiracy was discovered, they would be finished.

The ministers prepared sharp weapons and poisonous hidden weapons, and sent eagles and falcons to catch the bird of truth. Even if they couldn't kill it, they built cages and boxes to keep it in.They also spread rumors that the white feathers of the truth bird were actually fake and were used to cover its real black feathers.In order to prevent the king from seeing the truth bird, the ministers tried every means.

But usually, the least you want to happen, happens.The ministers kept talking about the bird of truth, and finally the king heard about it and expressed his desire to see it.The ministers did everything possible to prevent the king from seeing it, but the more this happened, the more the king wanted to see the truth bird.At last the king issued a proclamation, stating that whoever found the truth bird should bring it to him without delay.

As soon as the boy saw this announcement, he and his sister hurried to the palace.He hid the bird of truth in his jacket and was not found.The ministers blocked their way and told them not to go in. Anticipating that the ministers would obstruct them, the boy said that he was only following the king's order, and the two sides quarreled.

While they were still tangling, the bird of truth flew out from under the boy's coat, flew through an open window, and entered the king's bedroom, where it settled on his pillow, close to the king's head.The bird of truth bowed down respectfully and said, "Your Majesty, I am the bird of truth that you want to see. The boy who brought me was blocked by your minister from outside the palace, so I had to use this way to meet you."

"How could they be so rude!" said the king.Immediately he called for an attendant to take the boy to his chambers.So the boy took his sister by the hand and went in.

"Who are you?" asked the king, "and what has the truth bird to do with you?"

"Your Majesty, if you allow me, the bird of truth will explain everything to you," replied the boy.

So the bird of truth explained the whole thing to the king, and the king finally knew the sinister conspiracy that had been concealed for many years.The king's eyes were wet, and he embraced his two children, and then he and the children hurried up the mountain to find the queen who was imprisoned in the tower.The poor queen lived in darkness for many years, and was as pale as paper, but when she saw her husband and children, her health was restored, and she was as beautiful as ever.

They returned to the palace together, cut off the heads of those wicked ministers, and confiscated all their property.As for the good old fisherman and his wife, the King gave them many treasures and titles of honor, and they were loved all their lives ever since.

(End of this chapter)