Array The Brothers Grimm - Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm - A New English Version

‘Oh, no,’ said the bird, ‘I don’t sing twice for nothing. Give me that golden chain and I’ll sing it again for you.’

‘Here you are, and welcome,’ said the goldsmith. ‘Come and take it, but do sing that song again!’

The bird flew down and took the golden chain in his right claw, and perched on the garden fence and sang:

Then the bird flew away and found a shoemaker’s house, and he perched on the roof and sang:

The shoemaker was tapping away at his last, but his hammer fell still as he heard the song, and he ran out of doors and looked up at the roof. He had to shade his eyes because the sun was so bright.

‘Bird,’ he called out, ‘you’re a wonderful singer! I’ve never heard a song like it!’ He ran back inside and called, ‘Wife, come out and listen to this bird! He’s a marvel!’

He called his daughter and her children, and his apprentices, and the maid, and they all came out into the street and gazed up in amazement. The bird’s red and green feathers were shining, and the golden feathers of his neck were dazzling in the sunlight, and his eyes sparkled like stars.

‘Bird,’ the shoemaker called up, ‘sing that song again!’

‘Oh, no,’ said the bird, ‘I don’t sing twice for nothing. Give me those red slippers I can see on your bench.’

The wife ran into the shop and brought out the slippers, and the bird flew down and seized them in his left claw. Then he flew around their heads, singing:

Then he flew away, out of the town and along the river, and in his right claw he had the golden chain and in his left he had the slippers. He flew and he flew till he came to a mill, and the mill wheel was going clippety-clap, clippety-clap, clippety-clap . Outside the mill twenty apprentices were sitting down chiselling a new millstone, hick-hack, hick-hack, hick-hack, and the mill went clippety-clap, clippety-clap, clippety-clap.

The bird flew round and perched on a linden tree that stood in front of the mill, and began to sing:

And one of the apprentices stopped working and looked up.

Two more stopped working and listened.

Four of them stopped.

And eight put their chisels down.

And now four more looked all around.

Finally the last apprentice heard, and dropped his chisel, and then all twenty burst into cheers and clapped and threw their hats in the air.

‘Bird,’ cried the last apprentice, ‘that’s the best song I’ve ever heard! But I only heard the last line. Sing it again for me!’

‘Oh, no,’ said the bird, ‘I don’t sing twice for nothing. Give me that millstone you’re all working on, and I’ll sing you the song again.’

‘If it only belonged to me, you could have it like a shot!’ he said. ‘But…’

‘Oh, come on,’ said the others. ‘If he sings again, he can have it and welcome.’

So the twenty apprentices took a long beam and laid the end under the edge of the millstone and heaved it up: Heave- hup ! Heave- hup ! Heave- hup !

The bird flew down and put his head through the hole in the middle, and wearing it like a collar he flew back up to the tree and sang again:

When he’d finished the song he spread his wings and flew up in the air. In his right claw he had the golden chain, in his left claw he had the shoes, and around his neck was the millstone. He flew and he flew all the way back to his father’s house.

Inside the house, father and mother and Marleenken were sitting at the table.

Father said, ‘You know, I feel happy for some reason. I feel better than I’ve done for days.’

‘It’s all very well for you,’ said the wife. ‘I don’t feel well at all. I feel as if a bad storm were coming.’

As for Marleenken, she just sat and wept.

At that moment, the bird arrived. He flew around the house and settled on the roof, and as he did that, father said, ‘No, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so well. The sun’s shining outside, and I feel as if I’m going to see an old friend.’

‘Well, I feel terrible!’ said the woman. ‘I don’t know what’s the matter with me. I feel cold and hot all over. My teeth are chattering and my veins are filled with fire.’

She tore open her bodice with trembling hands. Marleenken sat in the corner, weeping and weeping so much that her handkerchief was soaked right through.

Then the bird left the roof and flew to the juniper tree, where they could all see him, and he sang:

The mother pressed her hands over her ears and squeezed her eyes tight shut. There was a roaring in her head, and behind her eyelids lightning burned and flashed.

‘Wife, look at this!’ cried the man. ‘You’ve never seen such a lovely bird! He’s singing like an angel, and the sun’s shining so warmly, and the air smells like cinnamon!’

Marleenken laid her head on her knees sobbing and crying, but the father said, ‘I’m going out. I’ve got to see this bird close to!’

‘No! Don’t go!’ cried the wife. ‘I feel as if the whole house is shaking and burning!’

But the father ran out into the sunshine and gazed up at the bird as he sang:

As he sang the last note he dropped the golden chain, and it fell around the father’s neck and fitted him as if it had been made for him. The father ran in at once, and said, ‘What a beautiful bird! And see what he’s given me — look!’

The woman was too terrified to look. She fell down on the floor, and her cap fell off her head and rolled away into the corner.

Then the bird sang once more:

‘No! I can’t bear it! I wish I were a thousand feet under the ground, so I wouldn’t have to hear that song!’

And the wife fell down again as if she’d been stunned, and her fingernails were scratching at the floor.

And Marleenken wiped her eyes and got up. ‘I’ll go and see if the bird will give me something,’ she said, and ran outside.