Page 31 - The Daughters of the Wild Cabbages' Gatherer

f course, sister,» and he mounted his
horse and departed.
When he met the first hermit, the old man asked,
«Where are you going, cavalier?»
«I’m going to fetch theTalking Bird.»
«Your’r heading for trouble, my son. But keep on
traveling until you meet a hermit older than I.»
He traveled onward until he came to the second
hermit who asked him where he was going and
sent him on a third one, who said to him: «Now
I’ll tell you what you have to do. You’re to climb
the mountain and enter the palace. You will find
many statues. Then you will come to a garden
where you will find a basin in the middle, and on
the basin is the Talking Bird. If it should say
anything to you, do not respond. Pick a feather
from the bird’s wing, dip it into the basin, and
touch all the statues with it. Keep your eyes open,
—

31