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Craik, Dinah Maria Mulock, 1826-1887

"The Fairy Book The Best Popular Stories Selected and Rendered Anew"

"
Then the bird came and took the gold chain in his right claw, and went
and sat before the goldsmith, and sang--
"My mother, she killed me;
My father, he ate me;
My sister, little Margery,
Gathered up all my bones,
Tied them in a silk handkerchief,
And laid them under the Juniper-tree:
Kywitt! Kywitt! what a beautiful bird am I!"
Afterwards he flew away to a shoemaker's, and set himself on his roof,
and sang--
"My mother, she killed me;
My father, he ate me;
My sister, little Margery,
Gathered up all my bones,
Tied them in a silk handkerchief,
And laid them under the Juniper-tree:
Kywitt! Kywitt! what a beautiful bird am I!"
When the shoemaker heard it, he ran out of his door in his
shirt-sleeves, looked towards his roof, and had to hold his hand over
his eyes, so that the sun should not dazzle him.
"Bird," said he, "how beautifully you can sing!" And he called in at
his door, "Wife, just come out; there is a bird here which can sing so
beautifully." Then he called his daughter and his workpeople, both
boys and girls; they all came into the street, looked at the bird, and
saw how handsome he was; for he had bright red and green feathers,
and his neck shone like real gold, and his eyes twinkled in his head
like stars.
"Bird," said the shoemaker, "now sing me that song again.


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