By Paul Sebillot

ONCE upon a time there was a great lord who had three sons. He fell
very ill, sent for doctors of every kind, even bonesetters, but they
none of them could find out what was the matter with him or even give
him any relief. At last there came a foreign doctor, who declared that
the golden blackbird alone could cure the sick man.

So the old lord dispatched his eldest son to look for the wonderful
bird, and promised him great riches if he managed to find it and bring
it back.

The young man began his journey and soon arrived at a place where four
roads met. He did not know which to choose, and tossed his cap in the
air, determining that the direction of its fall should decide him.
After traveling for two or three days he grew tired of walking without
knowing where or for how long, and .he stopped at an inn which was
filled with merrymakers and ordered something to eat and drink.

"My faith," said he, "it is sheer folly to waste more time hunting for
this bird. My father is old, and if he dies I shall inherit his
goods."

The old man, after waiting patiently for some time, sent his second son
to seek the golden blackbird. The youth took the same direction as his
brother, and when he came to the crossroads he too tossed up which road
he should take. The cap fell in the same place as before, and he
walked on till he came to the spot where his brother had halted. The
latter, who was leaning out of the window of the inn, called to him to
stay where he was and amuse himself.

"You are right," replied the youth. "Who knows if I should ever find
the golden blackbird, even if I sought the whole world through for it?
At the worst, if the old man dies we shall have his property."

He entered the inn and the two brothers made merry and feasted, till
very soon their money was all spent. They even owed something to their
landlord, who kept them as hostages till they could pay their debts.

The youngest son set forth in his turn, and he arrived at the place
where his brothers where still prisoners. They called to him to stop
and did all they could to prevent his going further.

"No," he replied, "my father trusted me, and I will go all over the
world till I find the golden blackbird."

"Bah," said his brothers, "you will never succeed any better than we
did. Let him die if he wants to. We will divide the property."

As he went his way he met a little hare, who stopped to looked at him
and asked:

"Where are you going, my friend ?"

"I really don't quite know," answered he. "My father is ill, and he
cannot be cured unless I bring him back the golden blackbird. It is a
long time since I set out, but no one can tell me where to find it."

"Ah," said the hare, "you have a long way to go yet. You will have to
walk at least seven hundred miles before you get to it."

"And how am I to travel such a distance?"

"Mount on my back," said the little hare, "and I will conduct you."

The young man obeyed. At each bound the little hare went seven miles,
and it was not long before they reached a castle that was as large and
beautiful as a castle could be.

"The golden blackbird is in a little cabin near by," said the little
hare, "and you will easily find it. It lives in a little cage, with
another cage beside it made all of gold. But whatever you do, be sure
not to put it in the beautiful cage, or everybody in the castle will
know that you have stolen it."

The youth found the golden blackbird standing on a wooden perch, but as
stiff and rigid as if he was dead. And beside, was the beautiful cage,
the cage of gold.

"Perhaps he would revive if I were to put him in that lovely cage,"
thought the youth.

The moment the golden blackbird had touched the bars of the splendid
cage he awoke and began to whistle, so that all the servants of the
castle ran to see what was the matter, saying that he was a thief and
must be put in prison.

"No," he answered, "I am not a thief. If I have taken the golden
blackbird, it is only that it may cure my father, who is ill, and I
have traveled more than seven hundred miles in order to find it."

"Well," they replied, "we will let you go, and will even give you the
golden blackbird if you are able to bring us the porcelain maiden."

The youth departed, weeping, and met the little hare, who was munching
wild thyme.

"What are you crying for, my friend?" asked the hare.

"It is because," he answered, "the castle people will not allow me to
carry off the golden blackbird without giving them the porcelain maiden
in exchange."

"You have not followed my advice," said the little hare. "And you have
put the golden blackbird into the fine cage."

"Alas! yes!"

"Don't despair. The porcelain maiden is a young girl, beautiful as
Venus, who dwells two hundred miles from here. Jump on my back and I
will take you there."

The little hare, who took seven miles in a stride, was there in no time
at all, and he stopped on the borders of a lake.

"The porcelain maiden," said the hare to the youth, "will come here to
bathe with her friends. Keep yourself out of sight behind the thicket,
while I just eat a mouthful of thyme to refresh me. When she is in the
lake be sure you hide her clothes, which are of dazzling whiteness, and
do not give them back to her unless she consents to follow you."

The little hare left him, and almost immediately the porcelain maiden
arrived with her friends. She undressed herself and got into the
water. Then the young man glided up noiselessly and laid hold of her
clothes, which he hid under a rock at some distance.

When the porcelain maiden was tired of playing in the water she came
out to dress herself, but though she hunted for her clothes high and
low she could find them nowhere. Her friends helped her in the search,
but, seeing at last that it was of no use, they left her alone on the
bank, weeping bitterly.

"Why do you cry?" said the young man, approaching her.

"Alas!" answered she, "while I was bathing some one stole my clothes,
and my friends have abandoned me."

"I will find your clothes if you will only come with me."

And the porcelain maiden agreed to follow him, and after having given
up her clothes the young man bought a small horse for her which went
like the wind. The little hare brought them both back to seek for the
golden blackbird, and when they drew near the castle where it lived the
little hare said to the young man:

"Now, do be a little sharper than you were before, and you will manage
to carry off both the golden blackbird and the porcelain maiden. Take
the golden cage in one hand and leave the bird in the old cage where he
is, and bring that away too."

The little hare then vanished. The youth did as he was bid, and the
castle servants never noticed that he was carrying off the golden
blackbird. When he reached the inn where his brothers were detained he
delivered them by paying their debt. They set out all together, but as
the two elder brothers were jealous of the success of the youngest,
they took the opportunity as they were passing by the shores of a lake
to throw themselves upon him, seize the golden blackbird, and fling him
in the water. Then they continued their journey, taking with them the
porcelain maiden, in the firm belief that their brother was drowned.
But happily he had snatched in falling at a tuft of rushes and called
loudly for help. The little hare came running to him and said: "Take
hold of my leg and pull yourself out of the water."

When he was safe on shore the little hare said to him:

"Now, this is what you have to do: dress yourself like a Breton seeking
a place as stableboy, and go and offer your services to your father.
Once there, you will easily be able to make him understand the truth."

The young man did as the little hare bade him, and he went to his
father's castle and inquired if they were not in want of a stableboy.

"Yes," replied his father, "very much indeed. But it is not an easy
place. There is a little horse in the stable which will not let anyone
go near it, and it has already kicked to death several people who have
tried to groom it."

"I will undertake to groom it," said the youth. "I never saw the horse
I was afraid of yet."

The little horse allowed itself to be rubbed down without a toss of its
head and without a kick.

"Good gracious!" exclaimed the master. "How is it that he lets you
touch him when no one else can go near him?"

"Perhaps he knows me," answered the stableboy.

Two or three days later the master said to him: "The porcelain maiden
is here; but though she is as lovely as the dawn, she is so wicked that
she scratches every one that approaches her. Try if she will accept
your services."

When the youth entered the room where she was the golden blackbird
broke forth into a joyful song, and the porcelain maiden sang too and
jumped for joy.

"Good gracious!" cried the master." The porcelain maiden and the
golden blackbird know you too?"

"Yes," replied the youth, "and the porcelain maiden can tell you the
whole truth if she only will."

Then she told all that had happened, and how she had consented to
follow the young man who had captured the golden blackbird.

"Yes," added the youth, "I delivered my brothers, who were kept
prisoners in an inn, and as a reward they threw me into a lake. So I
disguised myself and came here in order to prove the truth to you.

So the old lord embraced his son and promised that he should inherit
all his possessions, and he put to death the two elder ones, who had
deceived him and had tried to slay their own brother.

The young man married the porcelain maiden and had a splendid wedding
feast.