The Golden Bird - 1. Nikio, the Golden Bird, and the Salamander

"Sin otra luz y guía,

Sino la que en el corazón ardía. "

--Saint John of the Cross

There were once a young King and Queen of a small kingdom, through the middle of which ran a broad river. The Queen, expecting her first child, asked the wisest old woman in the palace how she could learn if it would be a boy or a girl. The old woman said, "Make a toy boat of precious wood, and place in it one of your most valued jewels, and set it afloat in the river. If it drifts to the west bank and catches there, you will bear a son; if it drifts to the east bank, you will bear a daughter."

The Queen did as she was told, placing a sapphire in the boat; and the boat drifted to the west bank, and she did indeed bear a son. When the Queen was expecting her second child, she repeated all she had done before, placing a ruby in the boat; and the boat drifted to the east bank, and she did indeed bear a daughter. When the Queen was expecting her third child, she again set sail a toy boat, this time with her most precious pearl in it; but the boat drifted neither left nor right, but sailed mid-river out of sight, and the pearl was lost. When her third child was born, she named the boy Nikio, which in the language of that country means Neither-side.

Nikio's eyes were on the horizon and far places as soon as he could stand. He would often tell his mother the Queen that he was going on a long journey, and she would give him a packet of bread and cheese to take with him. He might be gone for an hour or an afternoon, and he would tell her his adventures as if many years had passed when he returned.

The King once took his family hunting, but there were only four horses for them all to ride. The Queen said, "Nikio is smallest, and shall ride on my horse with me." So he did; but the King led his horse so close to the Queen's, that it crushed Nikio's foot; and the foot was lame from that day on.

The three children were close in age and took their lessons together in the palace. His brother and sister called Nikio a lazy dreamer and a sleepyhead, for his attention often wandered and he sometimes fell asleep. Nikio did not tell them that he was sleepy during the day because he was half awake at night. At midnight he half-dreamed he saw a brilliant light outside his window, which filled him with ever greater desire to see it again; and falling asleep by day, and being punished, he considered a small price to pay for another glimpse.

The elder children were confident of their future. "I will inherit this kingdom, and rule it as our fathers' fathers have, and as my sons' sons will," the elder prince said. And the princess said, "I will have my pick of the great lords of the land, and I shall gather all that is most beautiful in the world to my household." But Nikio said only, "I will go far away." Then his brother and sister would say, "Dreamer! Aren't you ever going to grow up?"

At bedtime on warm nights in late summer, the Queen gave each child an apple, cut in quarters, from the best tree in her garden. The princess and elder prince ate theirs right away; but Nikio ate only half of his and left the other two quarters on the table by his open window, saying as he closed his eyes, "Light in the darkness, you may have the other half; only let me see you again." When he awoke at midnight, the apple-quarters would be gone, and the light would be fading from view.

At last, when Nikio was no longer a child and not quite yet a man, he determined to stay awake until the light came. The first night, sitting up in bed, he stayed awake only a few minutes later than usual. The second night he had brought rocks from the river, and sat on those instead of on his bed, and so stayed awake. Shortly before midnight, a blinding radiance filled the room from the window, and a great shining golden bird entered, alighted on the table, and ate the two quarters of the apple. Nikio reached out and was just able to pluck one golden feather from the bird before it flew out the window and into the woods beyond the palace.

Nikio gave the feather to his mother the Queen the next day, saying, "This is to take the place of the pearl you lost because I was born." The Queen asked, "Where does this golden feather come from?" Nikio said, "It comes from the Golden Bird which I must follow. Tomorrow I will be far away from here." The Queen did not really believe him, but said just the same, "Then I will lose a jewel for which even a golden feather is small compensation."

When the Queen gave Nikio his apple that evening, she smiled to see him prepared not for bed but for a journey, wearing his boots and heavy coat. "Will you be off to catch the Golden Bird tonight, then?" she asked him, and "Yes," was his reply. "Finish what you have to do," the Queen said, "but do come back to visit when you can." She gave him a packet of bread and cheese, as she often had when he was a little child.

That night, the Golden Bird appeared again to eat the two apple quarters. It shone more brightly than ever, and the desire to follow it burned hotter than ever in Nikio's soul. As it flew out the window, Nikio too jumped out. He followed its intense brightness flitting through the dark forest. At the top of a hill Nikio looked back to the palace, thinking, "I will never see my home again." Then he continued his pursuit, always northward, toward the mountains, along the river.

At dawn he stopped by the river. He was footsore and sleepy and had lost sight of the shining bird. He ate half his bread and cheese and fell asleep on the mossy bank.

He awoke still hungry and reached for the bread and cheese. He drew his hand back when he saw that a large salamander had crawled out of the river and was eyeing both him and the food. "Have some," Nikio said, "I've already eaten my share."

"Thank you," the salamander said, and ate the bread in two bites. "One good turn deserves another. What do you want out here, and may I be of service?"

"Only if you can fly," Nikio said sadly. "I am following the Golden Bird, but it is far away by now."

"I can't fly, but I can swim as long as I like. I still have my gills."

Nikio said, "I thought gills were a phase that salamanders grew out of."

"Most do, if the ponds dry up," the salamander replied. "Where I come from, in the mountains, there was a great drought. The ponds and lakes shrank almost to nothing. My brother and my sister lost their gills and started breathing air. They saw me staying in what little water was left and said, 'Aren't you ever going to grow up?' But I travelled here to the lowlands where rain is plentiful. Now I can still breathe water or air."

"That would be wonderful, being at home on land or in water."

"I'm afraid I'm more at home in water. One of my legs broke off when I went over a waterfall, coming here. It grew back, of course--that's one advantage to being a salamander--but it grew back as a fin." Nikio could see that one of the salamander's hind limbs ended not in toes but in a fishlike webbing. "So I'll be more use to you in the water. Luckily for you, the river goes north, and north is where you want to go, if you're after the Golden Bird." The salamander ate the cheese in one gulp and waddled into the river. "Grab on if you want a ride."

Nikio immediately dove in. The first touch of the water was cold, and he struggled to breathe; but as soon as he touched the creature's tail, he felt no chill, and could not even tell if he was breathing air or water. They swam swiftly for hours. At sunset the salamander crawled out onto land. Nikio saw the bright light of the Golden Bird ahead. "Don't forget me," the salamander said, "and don't be too long. I will be waiting for you. The Golden Bird is beautiful, but it is easily distracted." Then Nikio ran ahead.

When he arrived at a small clearing in the dense forest, the Golden Bird was struggling in a net. Nikio ran to try to free it, but another net immediately wrapped around him. A huge, dark-haired, powerfully built man, dressed in huntsman's dark leather, picked them both up in their nets as easily as if they were butterflies. "Two birds to sing for me! This is a good catch," the hunter said, and thrust Nikio and the Golden Bird into two wrought-iron cages, which he slung across his back.

The hunter's huge strides soon brought them to a castle of dull black stone. Stopping only long enough to drink from the fountain in the courtyard, the hunter descended a stone staircase. He moved aside a boulder larger than himself, revealing a dim dungeon. On hooks in the ceiling, he hung the cages; then he left without a word, rolling the boulder back into place.

The Golden Bird was hardly shining at all. Its head drooped and it gave off only the faintest glow. Nikio thought, "What was I thinking, to come on this crazy adventure? I know nothing about the world. Now I'll never escape from here.”