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THE GOLDEN BIRD. 237
called his council together, and all declared that such a feather
was worth more than the whole kingdom.
‘Since the feather is so valuable,” said the king, "one is
not enough for me ; I must and will have the whole bird.”
So the eldest son set off, and relying on his own cleverness
he thought he should soon find the golden bird. When he
had gone some distance he saw a fox sitting at the edge of a
wood, and he pointed his gun at him. The fox cried out,
“Do not shoot me, and I will give you good counsel.
You are on your way to find the golden bird, and this even¬
ing you will come to a village, in which two taverns stand
facing each other. One will be brightly lighted up, and there
will be plenty of merriment going on inside; do not mind
about that, but go into the other one, although it will look to
you very uninviting.”
“How can a silly beast give one any rational advice?”
thought the king’s son, and let fly at the fox, but missed him,
and he stretched out his tail and ran quick into the wood.
Then the young man went on his way, and towards evening
he came to the village, and there stood the two taverns; in
one singing and dancing was going on, the other looked quite
dull and wretched. "I should be a fool,” said he, "to go
into that dismal place, while there is anything so good close
by.” So he went into the merry inn, and there lived in
clover, quite forgetting the bird and his father, and all good
counsel,
As time went on, and the eldest son never came home,
the second son set out to seek the golden bird. He met
with the fox, just as the eldest did, and received good advice
from him without attending to it. And when he came to the
two taverns, his brother was standing and calling to him at the
window of one of them, out of which came sounds of merri¬
ment; so he could not resist, but went in and revelled to his
heart’s content.
And then, as time went on, the youngest son wished to
go forth, and to try his luck, but his father would not consent.
“It would be useless,” said he; “he is much less likely
to find the bird than his brothers, and if any misfortune were
to happen to him he would not know how to help himself ;
his wits are none of the best.”