The Brothers Grimm’s “The Golden Bird”

The Brothers Grimm’s “The Golden Bird”

A king’s garden is robbed of a golden apple, and he sends his three sons, one at a time, to discover the culprit. The first two fall asleep, resulting in two more missing apples, but the youngest son shoots a feather off the thief–a golden bird–with an arrow on the third night. The king finds it’s so valuable that he sends his sons, one at a time, after it. On the way, they each meet a fox, and the eldest take aim at it, but only the third heeds his advice to steer clear of the exciting inn and instead stay in the humble tavern ahead.

The next morning, the fox rejoins the youngest son and tells him to go to the castle past the sleeping guards and into a chamber where he will find a golden bird. He is not to take it out of its wooden cage and put it into the golden one. But when the son arrives, he does just that and the bird sings, alerting the king, who has him arrested. The only way to keep his life is to go on on his journey and capture a golden horse.

His fox companion again rejoins him, ferrying him like lightning on his tail, and advises him not to outfit the horse with the golden saddle, but only the common leather and wood one. At the stable, the horse neighs loudly, alerting the grooms after he went against the fox’s council. The grooms seize him and the only way for the king of that castle to spare his life is for him to bring back the princess from the Golden Castle.

The fox, disdaining but pitying the poor boy, helps him again. He is to not let the princess say goodbye to her parents. He does so, however, and is made to dig away a hill that blocks the king’s windows. The fox performs the impossible task overnight, and the hapless third son leaves with the princess.

The fox tells him the horse belongs to the princess, and tells him a ruse to get it. After the rejoicing and feasting, he takes leave of the princess last while mounted on the golden horse, absconding with her. Then, back at the first castle, with the princess in the fox’s care, he steals the golden bird while still mounted on the horse. Now with the horse, bird, and princess, the fox warns him to not buy gallows flesh or sit by rivers.

Back at the town of the two inns, he sees that his profligate brothers are set to hang. He buys their freedom, and on the way home, before the river, they push him in and take his princess and animals. Drowning, he is again saved by the fox, who warns him of his brothers’ spies and asks him to cut off his head and feet, but the prince refuses. He walks on and exchanges clothes with a poor man on the road. Upon his return home, no one knew him but the princess stops weeping, the bird begins to sing, and the horse begins to eat, and the king realizes he is the one who saved them. The wicked brothers were seized and put to death, and the third son married the princess and was declared heir.

A long time later, the King’s son was once again walking in the wood, and the fox again made his unusual request. He did it and the animal was transformed into a prince, and none other than the princess’s brother. They all lived happily ever after.

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