A farmer had three daughters and they took turns to watch the calves when they went out to graze. One day, the eldest daughter fell asleep and lost one calf. Searching for the calf, she reached a big house with a red door. She went in and opened a golden, a silver and a brass door. She found a white bird in a golden cage. She asked the bird about her calf. The bird said, “If you marry me, I will tell you.” But the girl refused and returned home. The next day, the same thing happened to the second sister. On the third day, however, the youngest girl agreed to marry the bird and got the calf back. She married the bird. Some days later, she went to attend a feast and saw a warrior on a white horse, riding around the gathering. An old woman told her that was her husband!
The Cage
The girl asked how she could get her husband into his human form always, because she did not want to remain as the wife of a bird. “Stay home next time; there is a feast and, after he has ridden away, burn his cage!” said the old woman. The girl stayed back at the next feast and, when her husband went away, she burned the cage. He came back and found it gone. Despairingly, he cried out, “What have you done? That cage was my soul!” The girl was miserable, for he said that the evil spirits would take him away. “Sit behind the door and make a clanging noise with the sword for seven days and nights,” instructed her husband. “The moment the noise stops, the spirits will take me away.” For six days and nights the girl stayed awake, clanging the sword. On the seventh night, her eyes shut for an instant, and her husband vanished!
The girl set off in search of her husband. She walked miles over mountains and deserts, looking around everywhere for her husband. She came to a river on a mountain and heard his voice groaning. She ran towards it and saw him carrying many worn boots on his back! “What are you doing here, my husband?” asked the girl. “I am a servant of the evil spirits now,” he explained, “I have to do their bidding. These are all the boots I have worn out fetching water for the evil spirits, because they make me do all their menial jobs!” he said. The girl felt very sad and guilty too, for he had been forced into this state because of her folly. First, she burnt his cage and then she fell asleep, and she wept for him. “How can I help you?” she asked.
“I am so happy to see you after all this time,” said the Bird-man to his wife, “If you truly wish me to return, you must go back home and build a bird-cage for me. Then, sitting near it, pray for me to return earnestly and with a sincere heart. It will become my soul again and I will return to it. Till then, farewell!” Saying this, the Bird-man vanished. His wife looked around and then trudged all the way back over mountains and deserts till she reached home. She built a bird-cage like the one Bird-man had earlier and she sat near it, praying with all her heart for her beloved husband to return. One day, there was a great shout of joy as the white bird flew back home and sat on the roof of the house! The girl welcomed her husband home and they lived happily ever after.
