2016-10-24 12:35:02klsnebbks
I put on my girl’s dress
I went into the hut with my father. In the darkness that was there he did not see that I had on the cap and jacket of a boy. He laid the bundle of brambles and thorns down on the floor while I went to prepare the meal for both of us. And while my father was lighting a fire I took off the cap and jacket of a boy and I put on my girl’s dress nu skin.
My father, when he had eaten his meal, said to me, “To-day when I had gathered the brambles and had made them into a bundle I lay with my head on the bundle and went to sleep. I awakened feeling some warmth near where my head lay. I looked to see if perchance fire had come upon the brambles and thorns, and, lo! what I saw laid on the bundle was the egg of a bird. The egg was still warm, and the bird that laid it must have flown as I awakened.”
My father showed me the egg. It was strangely marked and was heavy for its size. I looked at it, and my father said, “Take it to the merchant to-[Pg 75]morrow, and maybe he will give a coin for it, for surely it is remarkable.&rdquo ;
The next day, when my father had gone into the wilderness, I went to the shop of the merchant. I showed him the egg that had the strange markings upon it, and I asked him if he would give me something for it. And when the merchant had taken the egg in his hand he said, “This is something to be shown the King. It is undoubtedly the egg of the Bird of Gold.”
I was greatly stirred when I heard the merchant say this, and I thought that perhaps my fortune would come to me through this egg. I went back to the hut, and in the morning nu skin , before my father started off for his bramble gathering, two officers came and they took my father and me to the palace and before the King. And the King said, “It is known that of all creatures in the world the Bird of Gold is best worth possessing. For her claws can be made into an amulet that will bring wealth to the one who wears it, and the one who eats her heart can never be slain by his enemy. I would have the Bird of Gold whose egg you have[Pg 76] found. You know where she abides. Catch her and bring her to me, and I shall reward you.”
So spoke the King of our little country. My father and I went into the wilderness to search for the Bird of Gold around the place where the egg had been laid. And in the very place where before he had lain my father put down his bundle of brambles and thorns. Laying his head upon the bundle, he went to sleep.
I watched beside the brambles and thorns. And after a time a bird came running along the ground, and went fluttering up on the bundle and made a nest for herself there. Small she was and all golden except for the blue that was under her throat, and the blue that was upon her feet. As she was making a nest for herself I put my hands upon her and caught her. I held her to my breast to keep her from fluttering away.
And I said aloud, “O bird, now I shall be rewarded for taking thee. For the King would make an amulet of thy feet that he may have wealth nu skin , and he would eat thy heart that his enemies[Pg 77] may not be able to slay him. Greatly will he reward me for having taken thee, O Bird of Gold.”
My father, when he had eaten his meal, said to me, “To-day when I had gathered the brambles and had made them into a bundle I lay with my head on the bundle and went to sleep. I awakened feeling some warmth near where my head lay. I looked to see if perchance fire had come upon the brambles and thorns, and, lo! what I saw laid on the bundle was the egg of a bird. The egg was still warm, and the bird that laid it must have flown as I awakened.”
My father showed me the egg. It was strangely marked and was heavy for its size. I looked at it, and my father said, “Take it to the merchant to-[Pg 75]morrow, and maybe he will give a coin for it, for surely it is remarkable.&rdquo ;
The next day, when my father had gone into the wilderness, I went to the shop of the merchant. I showed him the egg that had the strange markings upon it, and I asked him if he would give me something for it. And when the merchant had taken the egg in his hand he said, “This is something to be shown the King. It is undoubtedly the egg of the Bird of Gold.”
I was greatly stirred when I heard the merchant say this, and I thought that perhaps my fortune would come to me through this egg. I went back to the hut, and in the morning nu skin , before my father started off for his bramble gathering, two officers came and they took my father and me to the palace and before the King. And the King said, “It is known that of all creatures in the world the Bird of Gold is best worth possessing. For her claws can be made into an amulet that will bring wealth to the one who wears it, and the one who eats her heart can never be slain by his enemy. I would have the Bird of Gold whose egg you have[Pg 76] found. You know where she abides. Catch her and bring her to me, and I shall reward you.”
So spoke the King of our little country. My father and I went into the wilderness to search for the Bird of Gold around the place where the egg had been laid. And in the very place where before he had lain my father put down his bundle of brambles and thorns. Laying his head upon the bundle, he went to sleep.
I watched beside the brambles and thorns. And after a time a bird came running along the ground, and went fluttering up on the bundle and made a nest for herself there. Small she was and all golden except for the blue that was under her throat, and the blue that was upon her feet. As she was making a nest for herself I put my hands upon her and caught her. I held her to my breast to keep her from fluttering away.
And I said aloud, “O bird, now I shall be rewarded for taking thee. For the King would make an amulet of thy feet that he may have wealth nu skin , and he would eat thy heart that his enemies[Pg 77] may not be able to slay him. Greatly will he reward me for having taken thee, O Bird of Gold.”