day he went to the forest again. But it was a very bad day for him: he did not find even a small bird. He was tired[59] and sad. He sat down to rest under a tree. Then he heard a sweet song of a bird.
He looked up and saw a very small bird whose feathers were red. The bird said, 'I see that you are poor and hungry. I want to help you. I'll give you one of my feathers. Take it home and cook it. You will have a good dinner. Come back tomorrow, and I'll give you another feather.'
He thanked the bird and went home. He put the feather into a pot and told everything to his wife.
'Silly, how can the feather become food?' You must catch the bird and kill it. Then we can cook the bird and eat it.'
He did not answer, but looked into the pot and saw there a good dinner.
Every day he went to the forest, and every day the small bird gave him a red feather that made a dinner for the man and his wife.
But his wife was very greedy. Every day she said to the man, 'We must not have only the little red feather. We must have the bird. Then we can cook two, three or four feathers every day and we shall have as much food as we like.'
'But the little bird is my friend. I shall not kill it.' One day the woman followed her husband into the forest, but he did not see her. The woman heard the sweet song of the little red bird. She took a stone and killed it. The bird fell down off the tree. The man was very sad, but the wife said, 'Now we shall have much food every day.'
They went home. At home the woman pulled one red feather off the bird and put it into the hot water. She cooked and cooked it, but the feather was just a feather. And from that day on they were again always hungry.
Mr Fox
Lady Mary was young, and Lady Mary was beautiful. She had two brothers, and more admirers[60] than she could count.
But of them all, the bravest and most gallant was a Mr Fox, whom she met when she was down at her father's country house. No one knew who Mr Fox was; but he was certainty brave, and surely rich, and of all her lovers Lady Mary liked him alone.
At last they agreed that they should marry. Lady Mary asked Mr Fox where they should live, and he described to her his castle, and where it was; but, strangely, did not ask her or her brothers to come and see it.
So one day, near the wedding day, when her brothers were out, and Mr Fox was away for a day or two on business, as he said, Lady Mary set out for Mr Fox's castle.
And after many searchings, she came at last to it, and a fine strong house it was, with high walls and a deep moat.
And when she came up to the gateway she saw a writing on it:
Be bold, be bold.
But as the gate was open, she went through it, and found no one there.
So she went up to the doorway, and over it she found a writing:
Be bold, be bold, but not too bold.
Still she went on, till she came into the hall, and went up the broad stairs till she came to a door in the gallery, over which was a writing:
Be bold, be bold, but not too bold,
Lest that your heart's blood should run cold.
But Lady Mary was a brave one, she was, and she opened the door, and what do you think she saw?
She saw skeletons of beautiful young ladies all stained with blood.
So Lady Mary thought it was high time to get out of that horrible place, and she closed the door, went through the gallery, and was just going down the stairs, and out of the hall, when who should she see through the window but Mr Fox dragging a beautiful young lady along from the gateway to the door.
Lady Mary rushed downstairs, and hid herself behind a cask, just in time, as Mr Fox came in with the poor young lady, who seemed to have fainted.
Just as he got near Lady Mary, Mr Fox saw a diamond ring[61] glittering on the finger of the young lady he was dragging, and he tried to pull it off.
But it was tightly fixed, and would not come off, so Mr Fox drew his sword, raised it, and brought it down upon the hand of the poor lady.
The sword cut off the hand, which jumped up into the air, and fell of all places in the world into Lady Mary's hands.
Mr Fox looked about a bit, but did not think of looking behind the cask, so at last he went on dragging the young lady up the stairs.
As soon as she heard him pass through the gallery, Lady Mary crept out of the door, down through the gateway, and ran home as fast as she could.
Now it happened that the very next day the marriage contract of Lady Mary and Mr Fox was to be signed[62], and there was a splendid breakfast before that.
And when Mr Fox sat at table opposite Lady Mary, he looked at her.
'How pale you are this morning, my dear.'
'Yes,' said she, 'I had a bad night's rest last night. I had horrible dreams.'
'Dreams go by contraries[63],' said Mr Fox; 'but tell us your dream, and your sweet voice will make the time pass till the happy hour comes.'
'I dreamed,' said Lady Mary, 'that I went to your castle, and I found it in the woods, with high walls, and a deep moat, and over the gateway was a writing:
Be bold, be bold.'
'But it is not so, nor it was not so,' said Mr Fox.
'And when I came to the doorway, over it was a writing:
Be bold, be bold, but not too bold.'
'It is not so, nor it was not so,' said Mr Fox.
'And then I went upstairs, and came to a gallery, at the end of which was a door, on which was a writing:
'Be bold, be bold, but not too bold,
Lest that your heart's blood should run cold.'
'It is not so, nor it was not so,' said Mr Fox.
'And then – and then I opened the door, and the room was filled with[64] skeletons of poor dead women!'
'It is not so, nor it was not so. And God forbid[65] it should be so,' said Mr Fox.
'I then dreamed that I rushed down the gallery, and just as I was going down the stairs I saw you, Mr Fox, coming up to the hall door, dragging after you a poor young lady, rich and beautiful.'
'It is not so, nor it was not so. And God forbid it should be so,' said Mr Fox.
'I rushed downstairs, just in time to hide myself behind a cask, when
to be tired – устать
admirer – поклонник
diamond ring – кольцо с бриллиантом
was to be signed – должен был быть подписан
dreams go by contraries – дурной сон может предвещать хорошее и наоборот
to be filled with – быть наполненным чем-либо
God forbid – не дай Бог
