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'Bird,' he said, 'how beautifully you sing!' Then he called through
the door to his wife: 'Wife, come out; here is a bird, come and look
at it and hear how beautifully it sings.' Then he called his
daughter and the children, then the apprentices, girls and boys, and
they all ran up the street to look at the bird, and saw how splendid
it was with its red and green feathers, and its neck like burnished
gold, and eyes like two bright stars in its head.
'Bird,'
said the shoemaker, 'sing me that song again.'
'Nay,'
answered the bird, 'I do not sing twice for nothing; you must give
me something.'
'Wife,'
said the man, 'go into the garret; on the upper shelf you will see a
pair of red shoes; bring them to me.' The wife went in and fetched
the shoes.
'There,
bird,' said the shoemaker, 'now sing me that song again.'
The
bird flew down and took the red shoes in his left claw, and then he
went back to the roof and sang:
'My
mother killed her little son;
My father grieved when I was gone;
My sister loved me best of all;
She laid her kerchief over me,
And took my bones that they might lie
Underneath the juniper-tree
Kywitt, Kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!'
When
he had finished, he flew away. He had the chain in his right claw
and the shoes in his left, and he flew right away to a mill, and the
mill went 'Click clack, click clack, click clack.' Inside the mill
were twenty of the miller's men hewing a stone, and as they went
'Hick hack, hick hack, hick hack,' the mill went 'Click clack, click
clack, click clack.'
The
bird settled on a lime-tree in front of the mill and sang:
'My
mother killed her little son;
then one of the men left off,
My father grieved when I was gone;
two more men left off and listened,
My sister loved me best of all;
then four more left off,
She laid her kerchief over me,
And took my bones that they might lie
now there were only eight at work,
Underneath
And now only five,
the juniper-tree.
and now only one,
Kywitt, Kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!'
then
he looked up and the last one had left off work.
'Bird,'
he said, 'what a beautiful song that is you sing! Let me hear it
too; sing it again.'
'Nay,'
answered the bird, 'I do not sing twice for nothing; give me that
millstone, and I will sing it again.'
'If
it belonged to me alone,' said the man, 'you should have it.'
'Yes,
yes,' said the others: 'if he will sing again, he can have it.'
The
bird came down, and all the twenty millers set to and lifted up the
stone with a beam; then the bird put his head through the hole and
took the stone round his neck like a collar, and flew back with it
to the tree and sang,
'My
mother killed her little son;
My father grieved when I was gone;
My sister loved me best of all;
She laid her kerchief over me,
And took my bones that they might lie
Underneath the juniper-tree
Kywitt, Kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!'
And
when he had finished his song, he spread his wings, and with the
chain in his right claw, the shoes in his left, and the millstone
round his neck, he flew right away to his father's house.
The
father, the mother, and little Marleen were having their dinner.
'How
lighthearted I feel,' said the father, 'so pleased and cheerful.'
'And
I,' said the mother, 'I feel so uneasy, as if a heavy thunderstorm
were coming.'
But
little Marleen sat and wept and wept.
Then
the bird came flying towards the house and settled on the roof.
'I
do feel so happy,' said the father, 'and how beautifully the sun
shines; I feel just as if I were going to see an old friend again.'
'Ah!'
said the wife, 'and I am so full of distress and uneasiness that my
teeth chatter, and I feel as if there were a fire in my veins,' and
she tore open her dress; and all the while little Marleen sat in the
corner and wept, and the plate on her knees was wet with her tears.
The
bird now flew to the juniper-tree and began singing:
'My
mother killed her little son;
the
mother shut her eyes and her ears, that she might see and hear
nothing, but there was a roaring sound in her ears like that of a
violent storm, and in her eyes a burning and flashing like
lightning:
My
father grieved when I was gone;
'Look,
mother,' said the man, 'at the beautiful bird that is singing so
magnificently; and how warm and bright the sun is, and what a
delicious scent of spice in the air!'
My
sister loved me best of all;
then
little Marleen laid her head down on her knees and sobbed.
'I
must go outside and see the bird nearer,' said the man.
'Ah,
do not go!' cried the wife. 'I feel as if the whole house were in
flames!'
But
the man went out and looked at the bird.
She
laid her kerchief over me,
And took my bones that they might lie
Underneath the juniper-tree
Kywitt, Kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!'
With
that the bird let fall the gold chain, and it fell just round the
man's neck, so that it fitted him exactly.
He
went inside, and said, 'See, what a splendid bird that is; he has
given me this beautiful gold chain, and looks so beautiful himself.'
But
the wife was in such fear and trouble, that she fell on the floor,
and her cap fell from her head.
Then
the bird began again:
'My
mother killed her little son;
'Ah
me!' cried the wife, 'if I were but a thousand feet beneath the
earth, that I might not hear that song.'
My
father grieved when I was gone;
then
the woman fell down again as if dead.
My
sister loved me best of all;
'Well,'
said little Marleen, 'I will go out too and see if the bird will
give me anything.'
So
she went out.
She
laid her kerchief over me,
And took my bones that they might lie
and
he threw down the shoes to her,
Underneath
the juniper-tree
Kywitt, Kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!'
And
she now felt quite happy and light-hearted; she put on the shoes and
danced and jumped about in them. 'I was so miserable,' she said,
'when I came out, but that has all passed away; that is indeed a
splendid bird, and he has given me a pair of red shoes.'
The
wife sprang up, with her hair standing out from her head like flames
of fire. 'Then I will go out too,' she said, 'and see if it will
lighten my misery, for I feel as if the world were coming to an
end.'
But
as she crossed the threshold, crash! the bird threw the millstone
down on her head, and she was crushed to death.
The
father and little Marleen heard the sound and ran out, but they only
saw mist and flame and fire rising from the spot, and when these had
passed, there stood the little brother, and he took the father and
little Marleen by the hand; then they all three rejoiced, and went
inside together and sat down to their dinners and ate.
The
Juniper Tree Fairy Tale
A Fairy Story
by
The Brothers Grimm |
