Deep in the heart of a forest, there lived a golden bird. She sang very sweet songs and all the animals and the birds loved her.
One day, however, a hunter heard the bird’s song and saw the bird. He thought this would be a lovely gift for the King’s daughter. The King will give me a reward for this. The hunter caught the bird and carried it to the palace. The King’s daughter saw the golden bird and ran to ask her father to buy it for her.
The King rewarded the hunter richly and gave the golden bird to his daughter. The Princess had heard about this beautiful songbird. But alas! The bird wouldn’t sing! It just sat sadly in its new golden cage.
The Princess tried to feed the bird, talked to it, and carried the cage into the garden. But nothing seemed to make the bird happy. Slowly, the Princess too started to look very unhappy and ill. The King asked the doctors and the learned people in the court to suggest some medicine to bring cheer to the Princess but none of their remedies worked.
One day an old woman, who lived in the forest, came to the palace. She said she could make the Princess well again. The King called her in.
“Send the Princess with me, Sir,” requested the old woman, “I’ll take her for three nights and then you must come to my cottage in the forest.”
The King was very worried. ‘How can I send my daughter with a strange old woman into the forest?’ he thought, ‘What if she harms her?’
But the King wished to see her happy, so he sent the Princess with the old woman. She took the Princess to her cottage and there she kept her for three days and nights, locked in a room. The room was very comfortable and the woman gave her good food to eat, but the Princess could not go out at all. On the third day when the King came, the Princess was only too happy to go back.
As soon as she reached the palace, the Princess ran to her room. The golden bird was fainting with grief. She opened the door of the cage and took the bird out. She put her on the window-sill and gave her water and some crumbs. Soon the bird revived and flew away.
“Why did you do that?” asked the King.
“Father, no bird can sing in captivity!” replied the Princess, “I learnt that from the old woman in the forest.”
The next morning, the bird sang a sweet song in the palace garden as it came to sit outside the Princess’ window!
