Read Online The Flight of the Golden Bird by Duncan Williamson - Free Book Online
Authors: Duncan Williamson
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under the earth.”
Now the queen was very sad because she was the mother of all the sons plus the girl. She said, “Please, don’t send—”
He said, “They must go! I’m not having boys, young men running about when my little daughter is here.” And he took her everywhere he went.
Then one day the queen thought, she hated to see her sons going away, because the queen loved all her family. She made up her mind; she’d go and see her old friend, her fairy godmother, who had brought her to the world, the old hen-woman who livedin a little cottage on the castle grounds. So she walked down to the old henwife.
The old wife met her and took her in, and they had a sit and a talk. She told her the story I’m telling you, said, “Look, the king wants me to get rid o’ my sons; not kill them or anything, but banish them away from the land, send them on. They’ll go somewhere, probably get killed and I’ll never see them again. Not that I don’t love my little girl too, but I want them all to grow up together.”
The henwife said, “I know what kind o’ man your husband is. What would ye like tae do?”
“Well,” she said, “I don’t want him tae send them out in the world, probably some o’ them’ll never come back. And if some come back and tell me some o’ their brothers have been killed in battle or been killed doing something, it’ll just break my heart.”
And the old henwife said, “What would ye like tae do with them?”
She says, “I want them all with me, but the king won’t allow it.”
“Well,” says the old henwife, “it’s a sad position ye’re in, but what can I do fir ye?”
She says, “You can work magic, I know you can work magic.”
The old henwife says, “I only work
good
magic.”
“Well,” she says, “this is the kind o’ magic I want – good magic. You know that I have a large garden in the palace.”
The old henwife says, “Yes, I’ve visited it very often. You’ve taken me flowers from it and I walked with you in it when you were just a wee baby.”
She says, “And you know in my garden is a large pool where I visit every day. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if my sons could be turned into swans – white snow driven swans that could float around the garden – unknown to the king? And I could feed them every day; I’d know they were safe and nobody could touch them.”
“Oh,” the old henwife says, “yes, it’s a wonderful thought.”
“Please,” said the queen, “that’s all I desire; just give me a potion o’ some kind that I can turn these boys into swans and put them in my pond in the garden. And I can visit them, feed them. I can be with them all my life till I die. And the king can have his daughter. I can have my sons, and I never want him to know.”
“Well,” says the old henwife, “if that’s what you want… I’ll give ye a potion, but you must never touch it yourself, the king or the princess. Your daughter princess must never touch it! You’ll take yir twelve boys to the pool… I’ll give ye a potion, you’ll bake a special cake and yir daughter the princess or yir husband must not know about this. You must talk to your sons secretly, take them down to the pool. I’ll give ye a potion in a special little flagon. (It was all wee stone flagons in these days.)
And the old queen said, “That would just be lovely if you could do that for me.”
So, the old henwife went away ben her little place behind her bedroom. She was gone for about fifteen minutes. She came back and the queen was still sitting there.
“Now,” she said to the queen, “look, ye see that little stone flagon: you’ll take this. You’ll bake a special cake yourself in the castle kitchen and you’ll empty the contents in the cake. You’ll take yir twelve boys down to the little pond in the castle gardens and ye’ll tell them tae taste this; give them a piece o’ the cake each and tell them they must eat it all at wonst and enjoy it because their mother
Now the queen was very sad because she was the mother of all the sons plus the girl. She said, “Please, don’t send—”
He said, “They must go! I’m not having boys, young men running about when my little daughter is here.” And he took her everywhere he went.
Then one day the queen thought, she hated to see her sons going away, because the queen loved all her family. She made up her mind; she’d go and see her old friend, her fairy godmother, who had brought her to the world, the old hen-woman who livedin a little cottage on the castle grounds. So she walked down to the old henwife.
The old wife met her and took her in, and they had a sit and a talk. She told her the story I’m telling you, said, “Look, the king wants me to get rid o’ my sons; not kill them or anything, but banish them away from the land, send them on. They’ll go somewhere, probably get killed and I’ll never see them again. Not that I don’t love my little girl too, but I want them all to grow up together.”
The henwife said, “I know what kind o’ man your husband is. What would ye like tae do?”
“Well,” she said, “I don’t want him tae send them out in the world, probably some o’ them’ll never come back. And if some come back and tell me some o’ their brothers have been killed in battle or been killed doing something, it’ll just break my heart.”
And the old henwife said, “What would ye like tae do with them?”
She says, “I want them all with me, but the king won’t allow it.”
“Well,” says the old henwife, “it’s a sad position ye’re in, but what can I do fir ye?”
She says, “You can work magic, I know you can work magic.”
The old henwife says, “I only work
good
magic.”
“Well,” she says, “this is the kind o’ magic I want – good magic. You know that I have a large garden in the palace.”
The old henwife says, “Yes, I’ve visited it very often. You’ve taken me flowers from it and I walked with you in it when you were just a wee baby.”
She says, “And you know in my garden is a large pool where I visit every day. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if my sons could be turned into swans – white snow driven swans that could float around the garden – unknown to the king? And I could feed them every day; I’d know they were safe and nobody could touch them.”
“Oh,” the old henwife says, “yes, it’s a wonderful thought.”
“Please,” said the queen, “that’s all I desire; just give me a potion o’ some kind that I can turn these boys into swans and put them in my pond in the garden. And I can visit them, feed them. I can be with them all my life till I die. And the king can have his daughter. I can have my sons, and I never want him to know.”
“Well,” says the old henwife, “if that’s what you want… I’ll give ye a potion, but you must never touch it yourself, the king or the princess. Your daughter princess must never touch it! You’ll take yir twelve boys to the pool… I’ll give ye a potion, you’ll bake a special cake and yir daughter the princess or yir husband must not know about this. You must talk to your sons secretly, take them down to the pool. I’ll give ye a potion in a special little flagon. (It was all wee stone flagons in these days.)
And the old queen said, “That would just be lovely if you could do that for me.”
So, the old henwife went away ben her little place behind her bedroom. She was gone for about fifteen minutes. She came back and the queen was still sitting there.
“Now,” she said to the queen, “look, ye see that little stone flagon: you’ll take this. You’ll bake a special cake yourself in the castle kitchen and you’ll empty the contents in the cake. You’ll take yir twelve boys down to the little pond in the castle gardens and ye’ll tell them tae taste this; give them a piece o’ the cake each and tell them they must eat it all at wonst and enjoy it because their mother
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