The story of the “Golden Bird” is a fairy-story that starts with the golden apples of a king being eaten, and three brothers, each trying to catch the thief. The older brothers fall asleep, but the youngest one stays alert and manages to claim a golden feather, left by the golden bird. One by one, the brothers are ordered to go find the bird, only to come across a fox that advises them to stay at the more humble inn, but the older two opt for the more opulent inn, whereas the youngest visits the humble one unlike his brothers. The fox then decides to help the youngest brother in claiming the bird, only to fail by trying to put the bird in the golden cage, then told to go find the golden horse by the king that captured him, in which he set out to do. He again doesn't listen to the fox, trying to put the golden harness on the horse, which causes another problem for him. Then he is told to go take the princess, which the fox’s words are not heeded, and the young man has to perform an impossible task the princess’s father gives him, which the fox helps him. It’s only after this that the main character finally listens to the fox, in order to claim all three. However, he is then given a hard task, and advised to dismiss his criminal brothers, with this youngest brother once again not listening to the advice he is given. His older brothers tried to kill him, and claim credit for his accomplishments along with the ‘prizes’ he has collected, which includes the princess, the horse and the bird would not acknowledge, even if everyone believed the brothers. Once the main character finally follows, the fox’s advice in the end, the young man managed to reclaim the princess, horse and bird, and in the end, giving what the fox wanted, which would return him to normal.
This is a quaint little fairy tale, which brings up several themes. First, we have greed, then false charity, and finally, heeding the counsel of others when it is given. There is a reason why in the original German version, the main character has been called “Dummling”, which has several meanings, which isn’t exactly a compliment. After all, he is called Simple Minded by some… Yet at the end of the day, this is a common character in Fairy Tales; essentially an idiot.
The first of the prizes of the Dummling, is the Golden Bird, (Which the story is named after) is a common figure in many cultures, often treated in the same way. In many versions of the story, it is also called the “fire bird”, reminiscent of the phoenix of many stories, whose feathers can heal any sickness.
This is the bird from the original version of the story, from Slavic culture (the Phoenix being derived from Amun-Re from Egyptian mythology), that is known to have magical properties, and beauty with a brilliant nature. Many modern stories do take some form of influence from this part of the story, searching for the golden, rainbow coloured or fire-bird. (The pokemon fan in me can’t help but think of the story “Pokemon, I Choose You”, which Ash sets out to find Ho-oh, a fire-bird with a rainbow plumage. I know, I know. I shouldn’t let my mind wander to such things. However, there are cultural stories that are similar in Asia, which is where the inspiration of Ho-oh comes from.)
The next of the prizes is the Golden Horse. The swiftest of the horses, who runs as fast as the wind. This is always a creature that chooses who is worthy of mounting it, as in fairy tales, horses are creatures of unwavering loyalty and strength. These creatures love to run free, and also represent the masculine energy within someone.
Then we have the princess, the final prize of the Dummling. The Lady Fair is a woman with blonde hair, which represents beauty, strength, and even in some cases, easy childbirth. This would indicate that the foolish young man has gone off into the world, finding his place, embracing his masculine self, and finally starting his life and family. That is a common objective in many fairy tales and folktales, such as in the tales of P’tit Jean from French folktales, with Petit Jean being a very popular French figure.
However, it is important that when they think the Dummling has been killed, the bird doesn’t sing, as it has been caged by the brothers, and it is no longer free; the horse’s loyalty refuses to be fed by one who refuses to remain loyal, and the princess weeps, as she cannot be forced upon. That is why the themes of greed and false charity are present in this story.
Greed is a common theme in any tale involving gold. But it is also a colour of fertility, or a rich soil. It is a sign of wealth, and combined with other metals, can be used in many ways, which explains why people put so much worth on it. However, we see that the brothers, lazy and self-indulgent, take everything from their younger brother without considering that their brother spent everything to help his kin. Greed is a flaw that can turn even the kindest souls into fratricidal devils, and they take advantage of an innocent, foolish soul, like the Dummling.
This leads into the next flaw, False Charity, and misplaced charity. The tendency to foolishly give into misplaced-charity constantly gets the Dummling in trouble, first with the bird, wanting to give it a gold cage, when it was perfectly satisfied with the wooden cage, letting everyone know that there was a fool that they could take advantage of. Taking the Golden harness for the horse, he tried to take what was not his for the horse, which is a form of false charity, and rather selfish on his part, and presumptuous of the main character.
The princess on the other hand, wishes to say farewell to her parents, and wish for their blessing, and giving in to this request causes more trouble for him, and needing to dig through the mountain would indicate that he is giving false charity to her father, the king who is taking advantage of the Dummling’s charity, because the King is demanding an impossible task. The princess only wed the Dummling when his friend, the fox, helped with the digging, which demonstrated that the princess may have been too protected and sheltered by her father, and in order for the Dummling to we her, neither could live at the behest of her father, else he takes advantage of him.
And the final theme, trusting the wisdom of a friend. The fox gave no reason to betray Dummling, and tried and tried to give wisdom to those who would listen, which sometimes took the dense main character a long time for him to truly trust his friend. (I could imagine the fox was banging his head against a tree trunk after every blunder) Often, we have friends that try to advise us not to let others take advantage of us, especially when we have different forms of wealth, and true friends will be there when we most need it. Dummling has trouble with giving the Fox what the fox wishes, because he thinks it would simply kill him. But by releasing the fox, who was there to mentor and guide the dear Simpleton, it was letting go of the boy who wished to cling to a form of affection that boys may have towards an older and wise male figure, and when the Fox is reborn as the brother-in-law to the Dummling, he now has an equal as a friend, who continues to offer counsel, always looking out for him. The relationship changed between the two.
This is a story about wealth and greed. When one gains wealth, people always seek to take it, and if they find you cannot give what they seek, they will try to take it from you. This is what happens when the Dummling tries to give a more beautiful cage, a more beautiful harness, and needless labor for his wealth. People took advantage of his foolishness, and he didn’t heed the warning and advice from his true friend, the fox. And the saddest part, his brothers turned into greedy bandits, and stole from their own brother. This happens all the time when someone wins the lottery, or when they find out a friend is rich.
They don’t care for the person, but the wealth. The brothers are like the relatives who always come for the money, for some reason, be it personal debts, new vehicles or to improve their own homes, false medical payments (often used with children as emotional manipulation) and other excuses, often citing nostalgic memories, or kinship. The fox on the other hand wanted none of it. All he wanted was to have a friend who saw him for who he was, and to accept him for who he truly is. (Hence why he requested the main character cut his head and paws off, turning into the prince at the end.)
I will conclude by saying this: If you win or earn a wealth of money, do not simply give it away. You need to take a moment and reflect on what the Fox says and advises. People will come out with their hands open trying to befriend you, but the real friends are those who do not wish for your money, and wish to aid you. Dummling’s brothers were not worthy of the money, and claimed it for their own.
But in the end, Dummling found wisdom in telling them that it was not theirs to take, and that they he will not simply give them any of it, as many of us need to learn. It is one thing to help another, as the foolish Dummling rules over the kingdom wisely, and not using it to hoard everything to himself, nor is he giving it away to everyone who asks for it. Instead, we should be like him in the end, and keep our affection to those who see us and help us through the hard times, like the Fox, who did everything for his friend, loyal to the end, and the reward he and the Dummling get is friendship.
My favorite variant is "The Greek Princess and the Young Gardener."
I had not heard that story before, but I can tell that it's ancient wisdom that far too many people don't listen to anymore.
I wish more of these stories were taught in elementary and middle school. So many problems would be solved before they got to be big problems.
When I was younger, I kept hearing, "Opposites attract. You'll want a woman that's completely different from you." In my opinion, that's a lie. You want a mate that shares your likes, your goals, and will support you. I guess that's why I often feel like I have to fight the stream, I don't have a mate that actually cares for me as a person.