The Little Bird
In a small little cottage on the edge of town lived an old
couple. They lived together peacefully,
but they couldn’t be more different. The
old man was kind and gentle natured, while his wife was hot headed, greedy,
quarreled with anyone that passed, and loved to spread vicious gossip.
One day, the old man was sweeping his front porch and
enjoying the spring air when a small bird landed fell out of a tree and landed
in his yard. Startled, the old man ran
to the little bird and found it hopping in the yard with an injured wing. The old man gently picked up the little bird
and inspected the wing. The little bird
nestled into his hand and chirped happily at him. The man carried the little bird in the house
and mended the hurt wing. He then put
the little bird in a cage to protect the little one while the wing healed.
The little bird began to enjoy staying with the man and
stayed even after the wing healed. The
old man would open the cage during the day and the little bird would fly
around, but at any sense of danger or fright, the little bird would fly back to
the cage, knowing it provided safety.
When the old man would leave the house to go into to, he would open the cage
for the little bird to be free during the day.
The small bird flew around the house, chirping happily.
All this time, though, the wife became jealous of the little
bird. Her anger at the little thing grew
daily as the little bird became happier.
One day, her anger reached a breaking point. The old man had let the small bird out and
gone to town and now the little thing was singing loudly. The woman picked up
the broom and tried to swat the little thing out of the sky. She missed and shattered a vase of flowers,
sending ceramic shards, water, and roses flying. This fueled her fury, turning her almost
feral in her attempts to fight the little thing. She chased it all through the cottage,
swatting at the little thing with her broom.
Finally, she hit the bird and it fell to the ground. Her anger was pulsing through her veins and
she thought of killing the little thing but decided to slit its tongue
instead. The little thing struggled against
her grip as she took a knife and slit the little thing’s tongue. As soon as she let go, the little thing flew
from her and out the window.
The old man returned later and asked for his little
bird. His wife, still in a foul mood,
told him about what she had done and yelled at him for being so upset over a
stupid little bird. The old man told her she was a horrible, ill-hearted woman
for behaving that way to a defenseless little bird. He ran out of the cottage in search of his
little bird, calling to the forest for it and crying that it would never happen
again. But the bird never came back and
he finally gave up all hope of finding his little bird again.
One day some time later, the old man was walking on the
other side of the town and passed by a lovely little house. The yard was full of beautiful flowers and
tall trees and a beautiful young woman stood by the gate.
“My friend!” she cried. “Oh, how I’ve missed you and I’m so
happy you’ve finally found me! I am the
little bird you helped and cared for.”
The old man ran towards her and hugged her, so happy to have
found his little bird again. She didn’t
give him a chance to ask her anything before she led him inside and sat him
down at the dining table. She fed him
homemade pies and gave him fresh lemonade.
Hours flew by and finally the old man realized how late it was.
“I must return home, for my wife will be upset,” he said.
“You cannot go without a gift!” she exclaimed. And she brought forth two chests. One was small and easily carried, the other
was very large and very heavy. “Choose
one to take.”
The old man chose the small one and said his goodbyes. He finally got back to the little cottage and
his wife began to scold and yell at him for his absence. Finally, he pulled out the small chest and
opened it, revealing jewels and gold coins.
The wife immediately changed her tone, asking him gently where he got
the chest, while she sorted through the treasure and took the largest of the
jewels. He told her of meeting the young
woman, his little bird, and of the two chests.
She called him a fool for not taking the larger one. After much nagging, he finally told her how
he came upon the small house.
The wife left immediately, but in her greedy excitement she
got lost often. When she finally found
the house, the young woman was frightened upon seeing her old foe, but still
let her in. After the woman put out food
and wine and the wife had her fill, the woman began to tell her goodbye.
“You would let me leave without a gift?” asked the
wife. And so, the young woman brought
forth two chests, one small like the old man’s and the other very large and
very heavy. The wife quickly took the large one and left.
The chest was so heavy that she had to keep setting it down
on her journey back. Finally, she became
too excited and decided to go ahead and open the chest. She fumbled with the lock in her greed, but
it finally came loose. She threw open
the chest revealing fork-tongued serpents instead of gold. They quickly wrapped themselves around her,
sunk their fangs in her skin, and poisoned her to death.
Original story: The Sparrow and the Slit Tongue
The Pink Fairy Book by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1897)
Ooh what a dark ending. I find that lots of stories these days try to hard in many areas but often miss out on the cruel harshness of reality. Obviously this situation is far from realistic, with a bird turning into a woman, but often myths are about the stark juxtaposition of ture, human qualities and the absolutely impossible. This is the beauty of myths, they contain so many things that are completely unbelievable and unrelatable, but at the same time they are some of the most relatable stories humans tell.
ReplyDeleteWow! What a well written story you created. I found myself wanting to read more and more. The ending was so dark, but shows the true greediness of some individuals. I liked that you turned the little bird into an actual woman later on in the story, and that the old man got some closure in knowing his little bird was still alive.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a story! It started out so innocent and at the end, I found myself reading faster and faster! I liked how the little bird came back as a woman in the story! The old man, however, didn't seem startled one bit. I also liked the choice between the two chests and how the old man knew to pick the small one.
ReplyDeleteI read this story too! Your retelling was very true to the original, with a more present-day writing style. I feel bad for the man and the bird throughout the story, which I suppose makes the ending that much more rewarding. I wonder if the larger box contained snakes when the bird/woman offered it to the man? It would have been a really strange gift to offer. Nice job on this story!
ReplyDeleteI wondered the same thing when I read the original! I feel like the man truly cared about the bird woman and she knew this, so I feel like it'd be super weird if the snakes were there then. But maybe they were and she just knew that if he had the heart she thought he did, he would never be greedy for the larger box.
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