Atondido Stories
The Bird with the Golden Gizzard
There was once a poor man who had a large family. He was so
poor that he had nothing to feed the children. For three days
they had had no food. On the third day as the father was out
cutting osiers he saw, sitting in a bush, a small bird that shone
like gold.
“If I could snare that bird,” he thought to himself, “and take
it home, the children would be amused and perhaps forget they
were hungry.”
So he caught the bird and carried it home and, sure enough,
the children were so delighted that for two days they didn’t cry
for food.
On the third day the bird laid a golden egg. The oldest boy
took the egg to the goldsmith to sell it. The goldsmith examined
it and said:
“I don’t believe I have money enough to buy this egg.”
“Just give me some bread,” the boy said. “That will be
enough.”
The goldsmith gave him two loaves of bread, one under each
arm, and filled his pockets with golden ducats. So for once the
whole family had all it could eat and still there was money left
over.
Two days later the bird laid another golden egg which the
boy carried to the goldsmith and sold for the same price.
Now the goldsmith had a son who said he would like to see
this wonderful bird. So he went home with the boy. He looked
the bird over very carefully and under its wings he discovered
an inscription that no one else had seen. The inscription read:
Whoever eats my heart will become king. Whoever eats my gizzard will
find under his head each morning a heap of golden ducats.
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