I had a dream last night...
I saw the Golden Bird, perched in his wooden cage, late in the afternoon. When a male servant of the Hunter appeared, replenishing the food in the bird's cage.
The Golden Bird began to sing the most beautiful song, causing the eyes of the servant to brighten.
"Not only are you beautiful to the eye, but to the ear as well!" said the servant.
He looked out the window as he listened to the bird sing, saying to himself "I wonder where it is you went when I let you out all those nights ago?"
And suddenly the bird stopped, looking curiously at the servant boy, until he was looking back at him. When the Bird spoke:
"The old woman of the castle so bright, beckoned me to do her bidding one night. And though that castle was once where I belonged, she should not be there, its owners were wronged. O wonderful castle, of gold not of stone; why are you so empty, your halls so alone."
"The old woman?" asked the boy.
"She is not the first, but the second, it's true; a betrayal that happened not to one, but to two."
"Then, to whom does the Golden Castle belong?"
The Bird replied "When a queen almost died, birthing a child; a fairy came in, quiet and mild. She saved queen, so it was told; and out came a girl, with hair made of gold. And once she grew up, meeting a man of success; she had a babe like herself, the golden princess."
"The Golden Princess!" the servant exclaimed, "I've heard of her! They say she's the most beautiful woman ever to step foot in this land!"
Then the Golden Bird began to sing, producing a wonderful, otherworldly melody, that made one feel both sad and joyous at the same time. Until he suddenly stopped, reciting another poem:
"This girl, with hair of gold; will grow up kind, will grow up bold. She will see the castle, the horse and bird; until the time comes, with her brother is heard. Her prince will come, when her vulnerability is great; only to press his lips to her cheek, a nobleman's trait. And all of the Golden Creatures they'll gather; and live in that great castle, happily aver after."
–Charles M Warren
