The Willow-Wren

Long ago, every sound still had its own meaning. When the blacksmith's hammer rang out, it said, "Strike away! Strike away!" When the carpenter's plane scraped, it said, "Here goes! Here goes!" When the mill wheel clacked, it said, "Help, Lord God! Help, Lord God!" And if the miller was a cheat and left the mill, the wheel spoke in high German: first it asked slowly, "Who is there? Who is there?" and then answered quickly, "The miller! The miller!" and finally in a hurry, "He steals bravely! He steals bravely! Three pecks in a bushel!"

At that time, the birds also had their own language, which everyone understood. Now it only sounds like chirping, screeching, and whistling, and to some like music without words. But the birds decided they no longer wanted to be without a ruler, and they would choose one of themselves to be their king. Only one bird, the green plover, was against it. He had lived free and wanted to die free. He flew anxiously here and there, crying, "Where shall I go? Where shall I go?" Then he went into a lonely marsh and never showed himself among the other birds again.

The birds now wanted to discuss the matter. On a fine May morning, they all gathered from the woods and fields: eagles and finches, owls and crows, larks and sparrows—how can I name them all?

Even the cuckoo came, and the hoopoe, his clerk, who is always heard a few days before him. And a very small bird, which had no name yet, mixed in with the crowd. The hen, who by accident had heard nothing about it, was amazed at the great gathering.

"What, what, what is going to happen?" she clucked. But the cock calmed his beloved hen and said, "Only rich people," and told her what they were planning. They decided that the one who could fly the highest should be king.

A tree frog sitting in the bushes heard that and cried a warning, "No, no, no! No!" because he thought it would cause many tears. But the crow said, "Caw, caw," meaning everything would go peacefully.

They resolved to begin the contest right away on that fine morning, so that no one could later say, "I could have flown much higher, but evening came and I could do no more." At a given signal, the whole flock rose into the air.

Dust rose from the ground, and there was a tremendous fluttering, whirring, and beating of wings, as if a black cloud was rising. The small birds soon fell behind. They could not go any farther and dropped back to earth.

The larger birds held out longer, but none could match the eagle, who flew so high that he could have pecked out the sun's eyes. When he saw that the others could not reach him, he thought, "Why fly higher? You are king!" and began to come down.

The birds below cried out to him, "You must be our king! No one has flown as high as you!" "Except me!" screamed the little bird without a name, who had crept into the eagle's chest feathers.

He was not tired at all; he rose up and mounted so high that he reached heaven itself. When he had gone that far, he folded his wings and called down in a clear, strong voice, "I am king! I am king!"

"You, our king?" cried the birds angrily. "You did it by trickery!" So they made a new condition: the one who could go lowest into the ground should be king. How the goose flapped about with her broad breast when she landed! How quickly the cock scratched a hole! The duck came off worst: she jumped into a ditch but sprained her legs and waddled away to a nearby pond, crying, "Cheating! Cheating!" But the little bird without a name found a mouse hole, slipped down into it, and cried out in his small voice, "I am king! I am king!"

"You, our king?" cried the birds even more angrily. "Do you think your cunning will win?" They decided to keep him prisoner in the hole and starve him out. They placed the owl as guard in front of it, and she was not to let him out if she valued her life.

When evening came, all the birds were very tired after using their wings so much, so they went to bed with their families. The owl alone stayed by the mouse hole, staring into it with her big eyes.

But she grew tired too and thought, "You can surely shut one eye; you'll still watch with the other, and the little rascal won't get out." So she shut one eye and looked straight at the hole with the other.

The little bird stuck his head out and tried to slip away, but the owl at once moved forward, and he pulled his head back. Then the owl opened the closed eye and shut the other, planning to take turns all night.

But when she next shut one eye, she forgot to open the other. As soon as both eyes were shut, she fell asleep. The little fellow soon noticed and slipped away.

From that day on, the owl has never dared to show herself in daylight, because if she does, the other birds chase her and pull out her feathers. She only flies at night, but she hates and chases mice because they make such ugly holes.

The little bird also does not like to be seen, because he is afraid he will lose his life if caught. He sneaks around in the hedges, and when he is safe, he sometimes cries, "I am king!" For this reason, the other birds call him mockingly the "king of the hedges." No one was as happy as the lark at not having to obey the little king.

As soon as the sun appears, she rises high into the air and cries, "Ah, how beautiful that is! Beautiful that is! Beautiful, beautiful! Ah, how beautiful that is!"