United States or Svalbard and Jan Mayen ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Then looking across to Zaïca's bed she saw that it was empty. Her heart gave a great thump, for she longed and longed to be a bird, but now she feared that she was too late. In her white gown she ran out into the garden looking for Zaïca. But first she saw an old man leading his cow to the pasture. And to the cow he said, "Coo-roo, coo-roo!" coaxing her to hasten.
"Oh, I have become a bird!" she tried to say, but all she uttered was "Coo-roo, coo-roo!" For Tourtourelle was become a beautiful Turtle-Dove, and that is all a Turtle-Dove can say. "Coo-roo, coo-roo!" mocked a voice from the tree. And cocking her little reddish eye Tourtourelle saw a brilliant Jay hopping in the branches, imitating a Dove.
"Wung-go-bah" describes the noisy pitta; "Wee-loo" the stone plover; "Coo-roo" the tranquil dove; "Piln-piln" the large-billed shore plover; "Kim-bum-broo" the fasciated honey-eater; "Calloo-calloo" the manucode; "Go-bidger-roo" the varied honey-eater, and so on. But it is of graceful form, and soft of flight as a falling leaf; the eyes are large and singularly tender and expressive.
"Coo-roo, coo-roo!" cried Tourtourelle, imitating him, she knew not why. And as she said it she wondered at the strange feeling which came over her. For her body felt very light and it seemed as if she could fly. She looked down and saw that she was no longer covered with a little white gown but with soft feathers of ashy gray, while wings sprouted from her shoulders.
Then it was the song of a Wren that she heard, then a Lark, then a Thrush, then a Sparrow-Hawk, all these sounds coming from the one little throat of the happy bird on that bough. Tourtourelle tried to do likewise, but all she could sing was "Coo-roo! coo-roo!" And she said mournfully to herself: "It is Zaïca. She was wiser than I, and earlier, and the dream came true for her. Oh dear! Oh dear!"
Word Of The Day