99 lines
6 KiB
Text
99 lines
6 KiB
Text
The Willow-Wren
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In former days every sound still had its meaning and application. When
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the smith's hammer resounded, it cried, "Strike away! strike away."
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When the carpenter's plane grated, it said, "Here goes! here goes." If
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the mill wheel began to clack, it said, "Help, Lord God! help, Lord
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God!" And if the miller was a cheat and happened to leave the mill, it
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spoke high German, and first asked slowly, "Who is there? Who is
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there?" and then answered quickly, "The miller! the miller!" and at
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last quite in a hurry, "He steals bravely! he steals bravely! three
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pecks in a bushel."
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At this time the birds also had their own language which every one
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understood; now it only sounds like chirping, screeching, and
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whistling, and to some like music without words. It came into the
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bird's mind, however, that they would no longer be without a ruler, and
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would choose one of themselves to be their King. One alone amongst
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them, the green plover, was opposed to this. He had lived free, and
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would die free, and anxiously flying hither and thither, he cried,
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"Where shall I go? where shall I go?" He retired into a solitary and
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unfrequented marsh, and showed himself no more among his fellows.
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The birds now wished to discuss the matter, and on a fine May morning
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they all gathered together from the woods and fields: eagles and
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chaffinches, owls and crows, larks and sparrows, how can I name them
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all? Even the cuckoo came, and the hoopoe, his clerk, who is so called
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because he is always heard a few days before him, and a very small bird
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which as yet had no name, mingled with the band. The hen, which by some
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accident had heard nothing of the whole matter, was astonished at the
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great assemblage. "What, what, what is going to be done?" she cackled;
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but the cock calmed his beloved hen, and said, "Only rich people," and
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told her what they had on hand. It was decided, however, that the one
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who could fly the highest should be King. A tree-frog which was sitting
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among the bushes, when he heard that, cried a warning, "No, no, no!
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no!" because he thought that many tears would be shed because of this;
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but the crow said, "Caw, caw," and that all would pass off peaceably.
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It was now determined that on this fine morning they should at once
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begin to ascend, so that hereafter no one should be able to say, "I
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could easily have flown much higher, but the evening came on, and I
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could do no more." On a given signal, therefore, the whole troop rose
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up in the air. The dust ascended from the land, and there was
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tremendous fluttering and whirring and beating of wings, and it looked
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as if a black cloud was rising up. The little birds were, however, soon
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left behind. They could go no farther, and fell back to the ground. The
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larger birds held out longer, but none could equal the eagle, who
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mounted so high that he could have picked the eyes out of the sun. And
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when he saw that the others could not get up to him, he thought, "Why
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shouldst thou fly still higher, thou art the King?" and began to let
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himself down again. The birds beneath him at once cried to him. "Thou
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must be our King, no one has flown so high as thou." "Except me,"
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screamed the little fellow without a name, who had crept into the
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breast-feathers of the eagle. And as he was not at all tired, he rose
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up and mounted so high that he reached heaven itself. When, however, he
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had gone as far as this, he folded his wings together, and called down
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with clear and penetrating voice, "I am King! I am King."
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"Thou, our King?" cried the birds angrily. "Thou hast compassed it by
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trick and cunning!" So they made another condition. He should be King
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who could go down lowest in the ground. How the goose did flap about
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with its broad breast when it was once more on the land! How quickly
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the cock scratched a hole! The duck came off the worst of all, for she
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leapt into a ditch, but sprained her legs, and waddled away to a
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neighboring pond, crying, "Cheating, cheating!" The little bird without
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a name, however, sought out a mouse-hole, slipped down into it, and
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cried out of it with his small voice, "I am King! I am King!"
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"Thou our King!" cried the birds still more angrily. "Dost thou think
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thy cunning shall prevail?" They determined to keep him a prisoner in
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the hole and starve him out. The owl was placed as sentinel in front of
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it, and was not to let the rascal out if she had any value for her
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life. When evening was come all the birds were feeling very tired after
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exerting their wings so much, so they went to bed with their wives and
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children. The owl alone remained standing by the mouse-hole, gazing
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steadfastly into it with her great eyes. In the meantime she, too, had
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grown tired and thought to herself, "You might certainly shut one eye,
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you will still watch with the other, and the little miscreant shall not
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come out of his hole." So she shut one eye, and with the other looked
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straight at the mouse-hole. The little fellow put his head out and
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peeped, and wanted to slip away, but the owl came forward immediately,
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and he drew his head back again. Then the owl opened the one eye again,
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and shut the other, intending to shut them in turn all through the
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night.
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But when she next shut the one eye, she forgot to open the other, and
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as soon as both her eyes were shut she fell asleep. The little fellow
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soon observed that, and slipped away.
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From that day forth, the owl has never dared to show herself by
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daylight, for if she does the other birds chase her and pluck her
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feathers out. She only flies out by night, but hates and pursues mice
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because they make such ugly holes. The little bird, too, is very
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unwilling to let himself be seen, because he is afraid it will cost him
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his life if he is caught. He steals about in the hedges, and when he is
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quite safe, he sometimes cries, "I am King," and for this reason, the
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other birds call him in mockery, 'King of the hedges' (Zaunkönig). No
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one, however, was so happy as the lark at not having to obey the little
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King. As soon as the sun appears, she ascends high in the air and
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cries, "Ah, how beautiful that is! beautiful that is! beautiful,
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beautiful! ah, how beautiful that is!"
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