At this time the birds also had their own language which every oneunderstood; now it only sounds like chirping, screeching, and whistling,and to some like music without words. It came into the bird's mind,however, that they would no longer be without a ruler, and would chooseone of themselves to be their King. One alone amongst them, the greenplover, was opposed to this. He had lived free, and would die free, andanxiously flying hither and thither, he cried, "Where shall I go? whereshall I go?" He retired into a solitary and unfrequented marsh, andshowed himself no more among his fellows.
The birds now wished to discuss the matter, and on a fine May morning theyall gathered together from the woods and fields: eagles and chaffinches,owls and crows, larks and sparrows, how can I name them all? Even thecuckoo came, and the hoopoe, his clerk, who is so called because he isalways heard a few days before him, and a very small bird which as yethad no name, mingled with the band. The hen, which by some accidenthad heard nothing of the whole matter, was astonished at the greatassemblage. "What, what, what is going to be done?" she cackled; but thecock calmed his beloved hen, and said, "Only rich people," and told herwhat they had on hand. It was decided, however, that the one who couldfly the highest should be King. A tree-frog which was sitting among thebushes, when he heard that, cried a warning, "No, no, no! no!" because hethought that many tears would be shed because of this; but the crow said,"Caw, caw," and that all would pass off peaceably. It was now determinedthat on this fine morning they should at once begin to ascend, so thathereafter no one should be able to say, "I could easily have flown muchhigher, but the evening came on, and I could do no more." On a givensignal, therefore, the whole troop rose up in the air. The dust ascendedfrom the land, and there was tremendous fluttering and whirring andbeating of wings, and it looked as if a black cloud was rising up. Thelittle birds were, however, soon left behind. They could go no farther,and fell back to the ground. The larger birds held out longer, but nonecould equal the eagle, who mounted so high that he could have picked theeyes out of the sun. And when he saw that the others could not get upto him, he thought, "Why shouldst thou fly still higher, thou art theKing?" and began to let himself down again. The birds beneath him atonce cried to him. "Thou must be our King, no one has flown so high asthou." "Except me," screamed the little fellow without a name, who hadcrept into the breast-feathers of the eagle. And as he was not at alltired, he rose up and mounted so high that he reached heaven itself. When,however, he had gone as far as this, he folded his wings together,and called down with clear and penetrating voice, "I am King! I am King."
"Thou, our King?" cried the birds angrily. "Thou hast compassed it bytrick and cunning!" So they made another condition. He should be Kingwho could go down lowest in the ground. How the goose did flap about withits broad breast when it was once more on the land! How quickly the cockscratched a hole! The duck came off the worst of all, for she leapt intoa ditch, but sprained her legs, and waddled away to a neighboring pond,crying, "Cheating, cheating!" The little bird without a name, however,sought out a mouse-hole, slipped down into it, and cried out of it withhis small voice, "I am King! I am King!"
"Thou our King!" cried the birds still more angrily. "Dost thou thinkthy cunning shall prevail?" They determined to keep him a prisoner inthe hole and starve him out. The owl was placed as sentinel in frontof it, and was not to let the rascal out if she had any value for herlife. When evening was come all the birds were feeling very tired afterexerting their wings so much, so they went to bed with their wives andchildren. The owl alone remained standing by the mouse-hole, gazingsteadfastly into it with her great eyes. In the meantime she, too, hadgrown tired and thought to herself, "You might certainly shut one eye,you will still watch with the other, and the little miscreant shall notcome out of his hole." So she shut one eye, and with the other lookedstraight at the mouse-hole. The little fellow put his head out andpeeped, and wanted to slip away, but the owl came forward immediately,and he drew his head back again. Then the owl opened the one eye again,and shut the other, intending to shut them in turn all through the night.
But when she next shut the one eye, she forgot to open the other, andas soon as both her eyes were shut she fell asleep. The little fellowsoon observed that, and slipped away.
From that day forth, the owl has never dared to show herself by daylight,for if she does the other birds chase her and pluck her feathers out. Sheonly flies out by night, but hates and pursues mice because they makesuch ugly holes. The little bird, too, is very unwilling to let himself beseen, because he is afraid it will cost him his life if he is caught. Hesteals about in the hedges, and when he is quite safe, he sometimes cries,"I am King," and for this reason, the other birds call him in mockery,'King of the hedges' (Zaunkönig). No one, however, was so happy asthe lark at not having to obey the little King. As soon as the sunappears, she ascends high in the air and cries, "Ah, how beautiful thatis! beautiful that is! beautiful, beautiful! ah, how beautiful that is!"
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