The Golden Bird - 2. Nikio and the Golden Bird Go Astray

Twice a day, the hunter carried Nikio and the Golden Bird in their cages up to his courtyard, where he fed them as he himself ate. Then the hunter drank from the fountain, smiling as Nikio begged to be let go, and the Golden Bird chirped crossly. "If only I had found birds that sang more sweetly," the hunter said, "but, no, I don't think that would suit me. I like to hear you struggling in vain."

When the rains started to drench the castle every day, the hunter moved his banquets indoors, but still drank from the fountain in the courtyard. The dungeon grew damp and then flooded. One particularly dark and rainy day, when the Golden Bird was as dull as a sparrow and Nikio had lost all hope, a small head poked out of the dirty water on the dungeon floor. It was the salamander.

"I knew that bird would get you into trouble," the salamander said. "He's pretty when he's flying free, but he doesn't stay free long."

"Where have you been all this time?" Nikio demanded. "Have you really been waiting for me?"

"I've been hanging out in the moat. It's a good moat. Lots of mosquitoes."

"How am I going to get out of here?"

"I thought you might need help with that. Haven't you noticed how much the hunter enjoys it when you beg and plead? He thrives on struggle. Stop struggling. Act very weak, as if you're dying. Don't say anything but, 'Water! I'm so thirsty!' Spit out anything he gives you except water from the fountain in the courtyard. Make sure he gives you a big drink of it. Then no cage in the world will hold you." The salamander dove and swam away.

Nikio did as he was told. He stopped complaining and pretended to be very weak. The hunter frowned at him and poked at him through the cage. He offered him food, which Nikio ignored. He squirted wine from a wineskin into Nikio's mouth, but Nikio spat it out. Still Nikio said only, "Water! I'm so thirsty!" and sank back as if near death. Finally the hunter brought water from the fountain and splashed a little on Nikio's lips. Nikio repeated faintly, "Water!" With a curse and a snarl the hunter poured a large cup of the fountain's water into Nikio's mouth. Swallowing quickly, Nikio lay back and was quiet.

When Nikio and the Golden Bird were once again shut in the dungeon, the salamander appeared again. "Try the cage bars now!" he whispered. Nikio pushed two bars of his cage, and they bent in his hands like wet clay. He freed the Golden Bird and splashed through the water to the boulder which covered the entrance. In one push he rolled it away.

Picking up the salamander, Nikio ran up the stairs, following the Golden Bird, which stopped only to drink at the fountain, then flew out the castle entrance, shining like the sun once again. They were already far from the castle when they heard the hunter, far behind them, shouting furiously.

Nikio ran with the salamander to the river. There they swam northward as before. As the sun was setting the salamander pulled them both ashore. Nikio started off toward the light of the Golden Bird, visible in the north.

The salamander said, "Don't forget me. The Golden Bird is beautiful, but it is easily distracted. I don't know if you'd heard, but intelligence is not birds' strong point."

"I had a very smart parrot once," Nikio objected.

"The Golden Bird is not a parrot or even a wise owl. Just be careful."

When Nikio arrived at a clearing in the dense forest, he saw a beautiful pavilion, and in front of it, a round, soft-looking man with white hair, holding an ornate cage of gold encrusted with jewels. The Golden Bird, clearly entranced by the cage's beauty, was climbing into it. The white-haired man walked off calmly with the cage and bird. Nikio followed.

They arrived at a splendid palace, where the white-haired man placed the birdcage in a magnificent hall. He did not lock the cage, but the Golden Bird made no effort to leave it. Overwhelmed by the beauty of the palace, Nikio made no effort to hide, but stood open-mouthed in the great hall. The white-haired man finally turned and smiled at him.

"Welcome," he said. "Stay as long as you like. There is a great deal to see here. I will treasure your company. I have been so lonely for so long."

Nikio had only to ask, and the white-haired man gave him whatever he desired. The palace was endlessly fascinating. Jewels decorated every surface. So long as there was a ray of sunlight, every room sparkled with dazzling reflections. Every window broke the rays into a hundred rainbows. Even moonlight glittered on thousands of tiny facets.

One moonless night, overcast and cold, Nikio awoke in utter darkness. He stumbled to the great hall where the Golden Bird's cage hung. Feeling his way to the bird's cage, he suddenly realized: the Golden Bird was not shining at all. He reached in and stroked the bird, but it pushed his hand away. He coaxed the bird to sit on his hand, but as soon as he removed it from the cage, the bird pecked his arm in panic and hurried back inside. Nikio inched back to his room

The next day, as he sat near a waterfall behind the palace, he felt a worse despair than he had in the castle of black stone. "The bird doesn't even want its freedom," he thought. "I've come all this way for something that wasn't even worth coming after."

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As Nikio contemplated his despair, the salamander poked its head out of the waterfall.

"You and that bird," the salamander said. "You can't keep your freedom for more than an afternoon. I suppose I'm going to have to get you out of this trap, too."

"It isn't a trap. It really is very nice here," Nikio said. "But something is horribly wrong with the Golden Bird. It has stopped shining. What's worse, I don't think I can persuade it to leave. How can I make it want to fly free again?"

"It will take more than one dark night to break the enchantment of this place," the salamander said. "You will have to hood the Bird and carry it away yourself."

On the next moonless night, Nikio crept to the great hall and tied a hood around the Golden Bird's head. It chirped excitedly but stayed on Nikio's hand when he pulled it out of the cage and walked out the palace entrance. At the great door, the white-haired man appeared. "Why are you leaving?" he said. "I gave you everything you could want."

"I am sorry that you have been lonely, and that you will be again," Nikio said. "Your palace is a wonderful place in the day. But what I want shines by itself in the night." Still firmly gripping the Golden Bird, Nikio turned and walked away.

He walked northward with the hooded Golden Bird on his arm for three days. One the first night, the bird regained a faint glow. On the second night, it shone with a steady light. On the third night it shone almost as brightly as ever. Nikio took off its hood, and it immediately flew away into the forest, northward.

Returning to the riverbank, Nikio found the salamander waiting for him. Again the creature swam all day with Nikio holding on. Again he crawled out onto the bank at sunset, pulling Nikio with him. Again Nikio was about to set off toward the shining in the north.

"I suppose it's no use to warn you about getting caught again," the salamander said.

"After what I've been through, I'm not likely to let that happen," Nikio replied.

"Yeah, right," the salamander said, and Nikio was gone.

When Nikio came to a clearing in the dense forest, the Golden Bird was perched on a branch of a linden tree. Below, leaning against the linden tree’s trunk, lay a slender red-haired man. His shirt was soaked with blood on the side below the right ribs. He groaned, and then, seeing Nikio, weakly begged, "Help me."

Nikio thought, "Just until he is healed," and helped the wounded man stand. "Where can I take you?" Nikio asked. The man pointed and said, "I have a cottage by that hill." The tiny cottage indicated a heartbreaking poverty.

Day after day Nikio tended the red-haired man's wound. It didn't seem to get any better. The Golden Bird perched on the wounded man's wrist and watched him constantly. When Nikio said, "You should be able to take care of yourself now," the man shook with terror and said, "I'm not strong enough yet to defend myself, if my enemies attack again." The man grew no stronger, and no enemies appeared. The Golden Bird stopped shining at night. Every day Nikio thought, "Just until he is healed."

One evening when a heavy fog had settled, and all the trees were dripping, and every stone was slippery, Nikio walked into the dense ferns near the cottage. "Such arrogance, to think that wonderful things would happen to me when I left home," he thought bitterly. "I can't even help one person. I'm useless, not even fit to be alive."