Atondido Stories
His suspicions against Yirik were aroused. Moreover he was
afraid to trust himself to his horse any longer. So he turned back
to the palace at once.
There he ordered Yirik to pour him out a goblet of wine.
"And I warn you," he said, "that you forfeit your head if you
pour a drop too much or too little."
Yirik carefully tilted a great tankard and began filling a gob-
let. As he poured a bird suddenly flew into the window pursued
by another bird. The first bird had in its beak three golden hairs.
"Give them to me! Give them to me! They're mine!" screamed
the second bird.
"I won't! I won't! They're mine!" the first bird answered. "I
picked them up!"
"Yes, but I saw them first!" the other cried. "I saw them fall as
the maiden sat and combed her golden tresses. Give me two of
them and I'll let you keep the third."
"No! No! No! I won't let you have one of them!"
The second bird darted angrily at the first and after a strug-
gle succeeded in capturing one of the golden hairs. One hair
dropped to the marble floor, making as it struck a musical tinkle,
and the first bird escaped still holding in its bill a single hair.
In his excitement over the struggle, Yirik overflowed the goblet.
"Ha! Ha!" said the king. "See what you've done! You forfeit your
head! However, I'll suspend sentence on condition that you find
this golden-haired maiden and bring her to me for a wife."
Poor Yirik didn't know who the maiden was nor where she
lived. But what could he say? If he wanted to keep his head, he
must undertake the quest. So he saddled his horse and started
off at random.
His road led him through a forest. Here he came upon a bush
under which some shepherds had kindled a fire. Sparks were
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