The Little Bird That Cannot Sing

Once upon a time, there was a poor shoemaker who had a daughter he loved very much: it was enough for him to see her and he would burst into happy song. His daughter, however, was dumb, and so their friends called her 'the little bird that cannot sing'.

One day, the king's son became ill, and a fairy told him that he could only be cured by the little bird that cannot sing. Nobody knew what kind of bird this might be, but messengers were sent throughout the kingdom to find it. The news reached the shoemaker and he took his daughter to the palace. But when the king saw not a bird, but only a dumb girl, he had both the shoemaker and his daughter put into prison.

At this very time, in the prince's room, on his sick bed, he was heard to murmur: 'They have put the little bird that cannot sing in a cage.' While in prison, for the first time, the dumb girl burst into this song: 'Little bird that cannot sing, you will fly up on high. You'll make your nest at the top of the tallest tree, and you will never be silent anymore.' As soon as the king heard of this, he sent for the young girl and her father. The prince became well again and the couple were married and lived happily ever after.