This is the story of the eagle with the golden plumage. A long time ago there was an old king who lived in Ireland.
He had three sons who were born at the same time; he had great esteem for them, but he did not know which of them would inherit the kingdom, since they were born at the same time and he had the same esteem for all three.
The eagle with the golden plumage
There was an apple tree in the king's garden, and every year the apple tree had forty apples, but before they were half-ripe they were stolen; Once upon a time the king sent for his three sons and said to them:
– My beautiful apples are stolen from me every year, although I have men on guard night and day under the tree, from the moment the flowers have fallen; now, if you stand guard, whoever catches the thief will have my kingdom after me.
Here are the names of the three sons: Aodh, Art and Niall. Aodh spoke first and said:
– I will keep watch this night, it is not likely that the thief will come during the day.
“I will keep watch tomorrow night,” said Art.
“And me, the third night,” Niall said.
That night, a little before dusk, Aodh went to watch in the garden, and he took with him a weapon, wine, and something to eat; around midnight he fell asleep and he had to rub his eyes hard to keep them open; a great noise echoed in the sky above its head, as if thousands of birds were crossing it; great fear came over him, and when he looked up he saw a great bird: his eyes were as large as the moon and as bright as the sun; he fell on the apples and he took all the apples that were on that side of the tree; Aodh pulled at him, but didn't drop a feather.
In the morning, the king came out and asked Aodh if he had caught the thief.
“I didn't catch him, but I saw him, and I shot him,” said Aodh.
– You will not have my kingdom, said the king.
The next day, when the night was very dark, Art took his weapons, some wine and something to eat and went out into the garden to keep watch during the night; he sat down at the foot of the tree and began to think; around midnight, he heard a noise in the air as if thousands of birds were flying above his head; when he looked up he saw the great bird which had eyes as large as the moon and as bright as the sun; he fell on the apple tree and took some of the apples; Art tugged at him, but didn't drop a feather.
In the morning, before the sun, early, the king came to him and asked him if he had caught the thief.
– I didn’t catch you, he said, but I think I hurt him.
– You will not have my kingdom, said the king.
The third night, Niall came to keep your apples; around midnight, he heard the sound of the great bird coming; her eyes were as large as the moon and as bright as the sun; when he fell on the apples, Niall shot him and he sure hurt him, for a cloud of feathers fell to the foot of the tree; when he looked at the feathers in the daylight, he found that they were yellow gold, and they were beautiful to look at.
In the morning, before the sun, early, the king came and asked if he had caught the thief.
– I didn't catch him, said Niall, but I shot him, I knocked out a lot of feathers under the tree and I'm sure he didn't take a single apple with him.
The king looked at the golden feathers; he thinks for a while to himself, then he says:
– I will have to get myself a bird with golden plumage, or else I will not be alive long, and whoever gets it for me will have my kingdom and my earthly riches after me.
That day, the king sent for a wise adviser whom he had in his service, he showed him the golden feathers and asked him on what kind of bird these feathers grew; the counselor looked at the feathers and said:
– These feathers grow on a marvelous bird, the like of which cannot be found on earth; he has two precious stones for eyes and they are more valuable than your kingdom, and golden feathers grow on him every month of the year.
– And where can we find this bird, or where does it live? said the king.
– He lives on the side of a large mountain which is in Spain, he has a beautiful castle there, and this bird is the most beautiful woman in the world: he is a woman by day and an eagle with golden plumage by night.
– I cannot stay alive for long, said the king, if I do not get it, and whoever brings it to me will have my kingdom and all my earthly riches.
The three sons were there listening to him and they said that they would lose their lives or catch the eagle with the golden plumage.
In the morning, the next day, the king gave a gold purse and a good horse to each son and they set out in search of the eagle with the golden plumage; when they got to a crossroads, Niall said:
– Let us separate here, and whoever returns first safely will trace a cross on this large stone which is on one side of the path.
They said they would do so; the brothers then separated and each of them followed his path. Now, we're going to follow the brothers in the order they went to keep the apples; it was Aodh who had gone to babysit them the first night.
He went before him very well the first day, and when darkness came he went down to a little house on the edge of a wood; when he had said hello inside, the old woman who was in the house welcomed him and told him that he was going to have food, drink, and money without giving either gold or silver; he thanked her and told her that he had plenty of gold and silver to pay for his trip.
– I know, said the old woman, but I have never accepted to be paid for the hospitality I give at night, and I will not accept it as long as I am alive, but leave me three hairs of your horse's tail before leaving in the morning.
– In truth, I will leave them, and a hundred hairs if you want them.
After some time there was food, drink and wine on the table in front of the king's son; he ate and drank his content. The old woman put the table back against the wall of the house. Then she carried oats to the horse; she sat down in the corner and began to chat with the king's son.
– Can we ask you how far you want to go? she says.
– Yes, said this one, I am going to Spain in search of a certain bird for my father, who will not stay alive if he does not have it, and if he If I can obtain it, my father's kingdom and all its earthly riches will be mine.
– What kind of bird is it, or what is its name? said the old woman.
“It’s the eagle with golden plumage that I’m looking for,” said the king’s son.
– In truth, the same rascal betrayed me greatly, said the old woman. He came at night and took away my only son, and I can only have him again by taking three hairs from the horse's tail of everyone who asks me for hospitality for the night, so as to that I have as many hairs as there are golden feathers on the head of the eagle, and I cannot at all pluck more than three hairs from a horse. It is possible that you do not know that this bird is a woman by day and an eagle by night; He is bewitched and here is the advice I give you: do not go near him.
“I said, before leaving the house, that I would lose my life wherever I caught it, and I cannot turn back,” said the king's son.
– Let it be done as you wish, she said, but come now that I can show you your bed.
The king's son entered the room and she left him there.
Early in the morning, Aodh got up, ate and drank his fillings, drew three hairs from the horse's tail, handed them to the old woman, and set off on his horse.
The second night he went down to another small house that looked like the house he was in the night before; when he had said hello inside, an old woman greeted him and told him that he would have food, drink and a bed without giving either gold or silver; he thanked her and said he had plenty of gold and silver to pay for his trip.
– I know, said the old woman, but I have never accepted to be paid for the hospitality I give at night, and I will not accept it as long as I am alive, but leave me three hairs of your horse's tail before leaving in the morning.
– Truly, I will even leave you a hundred hairs, said Aodh.
After a while there was food, drink, and wine on a table before the king's son; he ate and drank his fill, the old woman arranged the table against the wall of the house, she carried oats to the horse, sat down in the corner, and began to talk to the king's son. She asked him what he was going to look for or how far he was going and she told him exactly as the other old woman had said and that the eagle with the golden plumage had come, and that he had stolen her only child. , and that when he left the next day he had to give him three hair from his horse's tail.
The third night he went down to the house of another old woman and the same thing happened to him that had happened to him the two previous nights; he had to give the old woman three horsehair, and, to shorten the story, he had to leave three horsehair each day, so that his horse's tail was as bare as the hollow of his hand; and horseflies made a joke of it, for he had no more horsehair on his tail to chase them away and people called him Ruball Lom (bare tail).
When he got to the sea shore, he went down to a house that was there, but there came pirates in the night, while he was sleeping; they bound him and carried him aboard their ship; they did not untie him until they were at sea; so they made him work hard, but one day once the pirates fought with another ship and unfortunately Aodh was hit with a bat and died.
Now, we don't have much to tell about Art except that he went down to the same houses and the same things happened to him that had happened in Aodh, and it was not until a day later. his brother to go down in the same houses until he arrives at the shore of the sea; he went down to a ship's captain and paid him to transport him to Spain. Early in the morning he got on board the ship, they spread the sails and set out for Spain, but on the third day a great storm arose, the ship went to the bottom of the sea and they all drowned.
We will now follow Niall. When he separated from his brothers, he did not go far without meeting an old woman withered with age.
“God bless you,” she said.
“And you too,” he said.
– Do you have time to receive advice? she says.
– Yes certainly, he said, and I will be grateful to you.
“If that is so,” she said, “do not part with a single hair from your horse's tail until you return from Spain. If you part with it, you are lost and you will not catch the eagle with the golden plumage.
– Thank you for your advice, he said, here is a gold coin for you.
– You have a generous heart, said the old woman, and if you follow my advice, you will be successful. You know that the eagle with the golden plumage is a bewitched woman: when you arrive at the castle where he lives, take from your pocket this little box of powder that I am giving you now, and throw it on him; keep the box open, he will make himself as small as a wren and he will jump into the box, close it on him and come back to find me, but if you lose a hair of your horse's tail, you are lost .
Nothing bad happened to Niall until he came to the Castle of the Golden Plumed Eagle in Spain. For three days he could not enter because the door was closed, but on the evening of the third day the bird got out in its golden coach and when it crossed Niall approached him and threw the powder on him. : when the powder touched him, he made himself as small as a wren and he jumped into the box; Niall jumped on his horse, but the coachman grabbed him by the tail and he couldn't leave; he heard a voice whispering in his ear:
– Hard embrace, light burden and ride in the air!
“Hard embrace, light burden, and ride in the air,” Niall said.
And those words were no sooner out of his mouth than the horse rose into the air and headed for Ireland, going as fast as the March wind, with the coachman clinging to his tail and screaming. as high as he could. It didn't take long for the horse to arrive safely ashore at the place where Niall and the old woman had met: she was there in front of him, and she said:
– Welcome to you who have returned from Spain, I see that you have a servant with you, son of the king.
– Yes, thank you, he said, and I have the eagle with golden plumage carefully enclosed in the little box.
– Show him to me, said the old woman, it’s been a long time since I saw him.
Niall opened the box, but instead of a little bird he jumped out the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
- Oh! you, my darling daughter! said the old woman; it's been a long time since you left me; I would never have seen you without this king's son and I will give you to him if he wishes.
– Truly, I prefer her to the kingdom and earthly goods of my father, but I would like to show her to my father in the form of an eagle with golden plumage, lest he doubt that it is she who is there.
“So be it,” said the old woman, “but from this night on she is unbewitched.
– I have a word to say, said the young woman, what are you going to do with my coachman?
“Whatever you want,” they said.
– Send him back to my castle, she said, you have the power, mother.
The old woman drew out a bladder, handed it to the driver and told him to inflate it, to take it firmly and that she would carry it to the castle; he did so, and when he was gone, the old woman said to the king's son:
– Take your wife home; everything I had to do is accomplished, now is the time for me to go and rest; goodbye to you!
And she left out of their sight.
The king was walking in front of his castle when he saw Niall and his wife coming; he ran to him, put both hands around his neck and kissed him; he could not speak, he was so happy, and he began to shed tears:
– Nine hundred thousand welcomes to you, son of my heart; which one is with you?
“It’s my wife, the eagle with the golden plumage,” he said.
The wise counselor was present and he said:
– It is she in truth, and she is the daughter of a king!
That night the king saw her in the form of an eagle with golden plumage and he was so happy that he fell backwards, dead from the fit of laughter that had seized him. Niall and the golden-plumed eagle then had their father's kingdom and earthly goods.
