A Healing Bird Of Song
A mysterious, mythical bird was known and heard throughout the rich land of Siquijor. The bird can sing and from chirping, any person having any incurable sickness or disease who hears the bird's melody can be cured instantly. For twenty years, many people searched for the coveted bird. Hunters, warriors, knights and common men took their chances in the forests, but no one has yet captured it. The description of the said mythical bird is the exact appearance of a parakeet .
A young boy living alone, grew up in a tree-house. There are several other tree-houses within the area where the boy hailed. He has so many friends around, working too as servants to the King who owns almost everything in the land of Siquijor. Most of them are planters and growers of strawberry land, very close to the King's palace.
The King has an annual contest for all men who wish to marry his lone daughter. And for ten years since his daughter turned eighteen, no one has yet won his daughter's heart.
Knights and men of royalty are the most preferred by the King to participate in the contest.
It's been an old tradition that kings and queens decide for their siblings' fates, including each marriage that can be arranged for anybody worthy of the majesty's blessings. Arbitration on personal properties is also decided by the strongest -- a tradition that all serfs and underprivileged individuals want to break for a long time. But being serfs and servants they are, they can only comply since they belong to the lowest class and underrated.
The young boy while growing up, has served many times in the King's palace and seeing the daughter of the King so lovely.
One afternoon, while the princess was outside the palace picking some fresh fruits, she spotted a young man holding a sword and a spear training with other men. The princess ordered her two armed servants to call the young man training behind the trees. The servants brought the young man before the princess. The princess said to the young man, "I know you. You are the one cleaning my father's swords and armors for the past seven years."
The young man smiling, bowing and said, "Yes, I am. I have grown now. And we're probably of the same age..."
The princess replied, "I just turned twenty-eight. Why don't you try the annual contest and see if you fit in?"
The young man responded, "I would be honored, if I will be allowed..."
"I am awarding you the right to participate," said the princess.
All the armed servants of the princess and all the common men around them who heard the princess were surprised.
The princess left and the young man continued his training while being praised by many people. He was congratulated.
The young man reacted saying, "I haven't won the princess' heart to marry me. I need to earn it. Thank you for believing in me to be worthy of such a privilege."
Six more months and the young man continued with his training to be a good swordsman. Also, all his friends and neighbors supported him while training in joust and archery, wishing him to win in the tournament.
It's the young man's first participation in the contest -- a tournament of ten different stages that lasts for thirty days.
The first day of the yearly contest commenced and all nineteen men from different lands were presented. The twentieth participant is a stranger and a common man and was asked by many of his right to compete. Showing no proof, the King asked the young man what gives him the honor to participate. The King's daughter responded for the young man saying, "I gave him the privilege, Father. I want him to compete."
All the spectators standing before the arena were silenced after hearing the princess' words.
The contest has started. Day after day, week after week, an ordeal for all competitors. The young man survived in the first twenty-three days of the tournament. On the twenty-fourth day, he is badly wounded. The princess saw everything how the young man fought with courage and she was pleased.
Six more days before the end of the whole contest, the princess requested the King to stop the contest because she has already decided for herself. The princess said to the King, "I am talking to you right now as your daughter, not as a princess. Please let me decide for my life..."
The King said to the princess, "I am just protecting you as my daughter and lone princess. I want a worthy man beside you who can protect you from any harm."
The princess kneeled before the King, "I waited ten years to ask you for my freedom of choice. You have been a good father to me. Today is the day, if you can award me my freedom?..."
The King replied tearfully, "When your mother died after giving birth to you, you're the only precious one I've been keeping with me. I've been selfish for keeping you in a cage like a bird for being so protective. But now that you have grown with the same strength and character of your mother, I am now giving you the free will to choose for your happiness."
The princess embraced the King with teary eyes and immediately went to her room, leaving everybody outside in the arena.
The King made an abrupt announcement and decided to stop the contest. Many participants and spectators were dismayed for not finishing the last seven days of the tournament. The King's decision is final and was never contested. The whole arena was vacated and all participants were praised by the King for their gallantry. Hence, the King apologized to the competitors and informed them that the yearly contest has ended for good. It's the King's last words to everybody in the land of Siquijor.
The young wounded man was assisted by his companions on his way back home. He was frustrated for not winning the princess' heart.
While being treated of his bruises and cuts that night, the young man fell asleep. When nobody was around where the young man sleeps, a bird flew inside the man's big tree-house and stayed there the whole night -- watching the wounded competitor.
Ten hours passed and the young man is still sleeping from exhaustion. The bird is still there. Someone was climbing the tree-house of the young man. The bird sensed it and flew away.
For five consecutive nights while the young man is recuperating in his tree-house, the same bird kept on visiting the badly-injured competitor. No one in the neighborhood has yet noticed the visiting bird.
The neighbors of the young man were worried because all the wounds he sustained in the tournament have not healed yet until the tenth night. They tried different herbs and medicinal leaves patched on each cut of the man
On the twelfth night, the man tried to stand up, but staggered. He closed his eyes and rested his back against the hard bark standing in the epicenter of his tree-house. Half-hour passed and the young man fell asleep. The visiting bird came back in the middle of the night and started chirping beside the young man. Instantly, all wounds of the young man were healed.
Early morning the next day, the bird was still there. The young man, alone in his tree-house, saw the bird, but the bird didn't fly away. The bird moved towards the man and sit on his right shoulder. The man was gladdened.
After a while, the man went down from his tree-house and looked for good sticks to make a wooden cage for the bird. He was able to make a big one, spacious enough for the bird to flex itself inside the cage.
Two days later when the young man woke up, the bird is gone and saw the cage destroyed. The man wondered how it happened because his tree-house has never been climbed or attacked by any wild animals. It never happened, with so many neighbors living, surrounding his own tree-house.
Many days and nights the young man missed the bird. One full moon, the man thought that he'll never see the bird again.
On the fortnight, the bird returned. The young man inside the tree house was overjoyed for seeing the bird again. He made another cage, almost of the same size he built the first time for the said bird. And this time, he tied five thin metallic rods hanging inside the bird cage to serve as chimes for the bird.
That same night, the chimes sounded and awakened the man. The cage is destroyed again and the bird is gone. The young man learned that the bird visiting him all the time is a magical one -- the mythical bird that everybody's been talking about for many years.
Three more nights passed, one rainy night, a wet bird flew inside the young man's tree-house landing on top of the man's wooden closet. The closet is facing the position where the young man is lying on the mat over the wooden floor. The young man saw the bird coming in. Then the bird transformed into a lady, naked, when its feet touched the wooden floor of the tree-house. The lady was looking for some clothes to wear and from behind, an extending arm with man's clothes appeared before her eyes. The lady blushed, being discovered by the young man of her transformation and identity.
The story of the mythical bird was disclosed and narrated by the lady to the young man -- telling everything about her early past. The two stayed together inside the tree-house and lived happily ever after.
Comments