I had a dream last night...
I saw the Golden Bird, sitting in his wooden cage in the dark, listening to someone talking in the next room.
“I’ve got another one!” exclaimed the voice. “First fox we’ve killed in days. There can’t be too many more out there.”
Then came the voice of the man of the mansion, “Well I’ll be happy when we can tell that old lady that we’ve done it.”
“Say, do you think that Prince will really be able to get the Golden Horse?”
“With that snob holding onto it?” replied the man, “You know how he gets whatever he wants... and never lets go!”
The Golden Bird cocked his head and turned around, brushing his tail against the cage door, and causing it to swing open, as it had apparently not been secured!
So the bird hopped out onto the rim of the door, looked around at the room, then the scene outside, and flew out into the night air.
The bird flew across the moonlit landscape, soaring over fields of swaying grass, as well as dancing treetops, until he saw a small stream running from the forest.
He dove down to skim over this stream, following it up through the dense forest to where it might lead.
Coming to one pool of water from which it ran, the bird perched on a limb hanging over the water, and bent down to get a drink, tilting his head back after each beak-full of water. When he heard the sound of girls laughing.
The Golden Bird hopped over to another low branch, then took off into the air, with his tail pulling up droplets of water as it lifted from the pool’s surface.
He flew through a space in the tree limbs, and discovered a spring from where the stream originated. And in the stream, were several young maidens, bathing in the moonlight.
The bird rose up off the branch he was resting on, and flew over to a limb closer to the maidens.
“Might as well enjoy it tonight.” said one of the girls. “She’ll have it all to herself tomorrow night.”
“Well I suppose it is the only time she has to herself, getting out of the castle and all.”
“And how many girls can say that they’ve bathed in the same waters as the Golden Princess?”
–Charles M Warren
