[Illustration: Blackbird and cat.]
Once upon a time a Blackbird and his mate lived happily in a tall tree.
The Blackbird kept singing sweetly to his mate, pouring out his heart,
as they built their nest together. And when the nest was finished and
they settled in it, he sang more sweetly than ever.
Now, the King was riding that way and, when he heard this song of joy,
he said to the Fowler: “Catch that Blackbird, so that I may hear his
happy song every day.”
Not long after that the Fowler came with his nets and, by mistake, he
caught Mrs. Blackbird. Now Mrs. Blackbird could sing hardly a note, but
the Fowler could not tell her from Mr. Blackbird as both wore such black
feathers.
The King was delighted to get the bird and he put her into a cage. But
Mrs. Blackbird was so unhappy without her husband that she began to
mourn and droop, and gave unhappy little chirps.
The King could not understand why he never heard the glad song of the
forest; but he kept her a prisoner, hoping that some day she might sing.
Now, when Mr. Blackbird heard that his dear little wife had been stolen
by the King, he was very angry indeed. He made up his mind that he would
go to the palace and make war upon the King, demanding that his wife be
set free. So, he got a long sharp thorn, and tied it at his waist for a
sword. On his head he put half a walnut shell for a helmet. He took the
skin of a dead frog and put it on for armor, and the other half of the
walnut shell he used for a drum. And so he marched away beating upon his
drum to make war upon the King.
As he walked along the road, beating upon his drum, he met a Cat.
“Miaow! Miaow!” said the Cat. “Where are you going, Mr. Blackbird?”
“I am going to fight against the King,” answered the bold Blackbird.
“I will go with you and help you,” said the Cat, “for the King drowned
my kittens, and I should like to help punish him.”
“Jump into my ear, then,” said the bold Blackbird, “and I will take you
with me.”
So the Cat climbed into the Blackbird’s ear, curled up and went to
sleep; the Blackbird marched on beating upon his drum.
Further down the road he met some Ants.
“Where are you going, Mr. Blackbird?” asked the Ants.
“I am going to fight against the King,” answered the bold Blackbird,
“for he has stolen my wife and shut her up in a cage.”
“We will join you,” said the Ants, “for the King poured hot water down
our hole.”
“Jump into my ear,” said the Blackbird.
So they jumped in, and away went the Blackbird beating upon his drum.
Next the Blackbird met a Rope and a Club, and when they heard that he
was going to fight against the King, they jumped into his ear, and away
they all went together.
Not far from the palace of the King, the Blackbird had to cross over a
river.
“Where are you going, Mr. Blackbird?” asked the River.
“To fight against the King, for he has taken my wife as prisoner.”
“I will join you,” said the River.
“Jump into my ear,” said the Blackbird. So the River went into his ear,
and away they all went to the palace of the King.
When they reached the outer gate, the bold Blackbird knocked loudly:
“Thump! Thump! Thump!”
“Who is there?” said the Porter.
“General Blackbird, who has come to make war upon the King and to get
his wife back again,” said the Blackbird.
When the Porter saw General Blackbird in his frog-skin coat of armor,
with his helmet and drum made from a walnut shell, and with a thorn for
a sword, he laughed so hard that he could scarcely open the gate. And
when the King saw the bold bird, he laughed so heartily he nearly fell
from his throne. “Ha! Ha! Ha!” roared the King. “What do you wish with
me, bold General Blackbird?”
“I want my wife at once,” said the Blackbird, beating upon his drum,
rub-a-dub, rub-a-dub!
“You shall not have her! I have shut her up in a cage and I am waiting
for her to sing to me,” said the King.
“Very well, then,” answered the Blackbird. “War is declared and you must
take the consequences.” Rub-a-dub, rub-a-dub! went the drum.
“Seize that insolent bird,” said the King, “and shut him up in the
hen-house. There will be nothing left of him in the morning.”
So the servants took the Blackbird and threw him out into the hen-house.
When all the world was sound asleep, Blackbird said:
“Come out, Pussy, from my ear!
There are many fowls for you here;
Scratch them—make their feathers fly,
Wring their necks until they die!”
“Miaow! Miaow,” said the big Pussy Cat. And in an instant all was wild
confusion in the hen-house.
“Cluck-cluck-cluck!” said the Hens, as they went scurrying all over the
place. “Bad luck-cluck-cluck!”
“Cock-a-doodle-do-oo! Get out of here, oh, do!” shrieked the Rooster.
“Quack, Quack!” said the Ducks. “Alack, Alack!”
“Hiss-ss! Hiss-ss! What’s amiss-ss?” hissed the Geese.
But the big Pussy Cat caught them all, scratched out their feathers, and
soon made an end of them. Then she climbed back into the Blackbird’s
ear, and they all went to sleep.
The next morning, the King said to his servants, “Go and find the body
of that insolent bird and give all of my poultry an extra measure of
corn.”
But when they entered the chicken-yard, there was General Blackbird
strutting about among all the dead fowls.
[Illustration: “Ha, ha, ha!” roared the King.... “What do you wish
with me, bold General Blackbird?”]
[Illustration: “Ha, ha, ha!” roared the King.... “What do you wish
with me, bold General Blackbird?”]
The King was very angry when he heard about this, and he said, “Tonight,
you must shut that insolent bird in the stable among my prancing steeds.
They will soon kick the life out of him.”
So General Blackbird was shut in the stable.
At midnight, when all the world was asleep, Blackbird said:
“Come out, Rope, and come out, Stick!
Tie the horses lest they kick.
Beat the horses on the head!
Beat them till they fall down dead!”
Out came the Rope and the Club, and the Rope bound all the horses until
they could not move, and the Club beat them until they all fell down
dead.
Then the Rope and the Club climbed back into the Blackbird’s ear, and
they all went to sleep again.
The next morning the King said, “I am sure my wild horses have settled
that Blackbird. Go out and bring in his corpse.”
The servants went out to the stable, and there was the Blackbird sitting
on a stall, drumming away on his walnut shell, while all around him were
the dead bodies of the horses. Now these horses had cost the King a
great deal of money and to have them killed in this way was more than he
could stand.
“That Blackbird shall not trick me again,” scolded the King. “I will
kill him tonight. Put him in with my Elephants and they will crush the
life out of him.”
So that night the servants shut the Blackbird up in the shed with all
the big Elephants.
At midnight, when all the world was sound asleep, the Blackbird began to
sing:
“Come out from my ear, you Ants,
Come and sting the Elephants.
Sting each trunk and sting each head!
Sting them till they fall down dead!”
Then out came the swarm of Ants from the Blackbird’s ear. They crawled
inside the Elephants’ trunks; they burrowed into the Elephants’ brains;
they bit them and stung them so sharply that the Elephants all went mad
and trumpeted wildly as they pushed each other about tramping upon each
other until they all fell down dead.
The next morning the King said to his servants, “Go and bring me the
proof that the insolent Blackbird is dead.”
But, when the servants went out, there they found the Blackbird playing
upon his drum, while about him all the dead Elephants were piled upon
the ground.
When the King heard this he was furious, and he said, “I cannot imagine
how he does this, but, tonight, you must tie him to my bed and I will
watch to see what happens.”
So that night General Blackbird was escorted to the King’s bedroom, and
there he was tied fast to the King’s bed.
The King would not go to sleep, but kept awake listening to find out
what the Blackbird was doing.
At midnight the Blackbird began to sing:
“Come out, River, from my ear!
Flow about the King’s room here.
Pour yourself upon his bed!
Drown the King until he’s dead!”
Then out came the River, drip-drip-drip, pour-pour-pouring out of the
Blackbird’s ear. It flooded the room; the chairs and tables began to
float about; then the King’s bed began to float, and the King himself
was wet. At last the King cried out:
“Oh, good General Blackbird, stop the River! I will give you back your
wife if you will only be gone and leave me in peace.”
So the Blackbird stopped the River, took his wife and they went back to
their home.
On the way, the Blackbird took all his helpers out of his ear and put
each one back where he lived. Taking off his helmet, he said, with a low
bow:
“My friends, my wife and I appreciate and thank you for your timely
assistance. Without your aid, I should never have been able to overcome
the enemy.”
Then the Blackbird threw off his frog-skin coat of armor, put aside his
thorn sword, his walnut helmet and his drum, and he and his wife flew
back to their home in the tall tree.
He sang her a sweet song, and they all lived happily ever after.
[Illustration: Birds and flowers.]