Son of Green Bird

In the village by the river, Green Bird was the best of the young men. No man could beat him in a fight. Green Bird was a great hunter and a cunning warrior, and the village was proud to have him with them. Green Bird was also one of the most handsome men in the whole village, and every girl and woman secretly wished that Green Bird would be their husband. This angered many young men, but Green Bird did not care. In fact, there was no man more stubborn and aloof than Green Bird, who did not want a weakling wife. What Green Bird wanted was a strong son, one to whom he could teach all his skills and wisdom. Unfortunately, Green Bird could not put up with any woman at all, not even his own mother, and so remained without a son.

Old Matumomaru loved to spy on the village, and laughed at all the foolish things the villagers did. Old Matumomaru enjoyed making himself a disguise and going down into the village at times, amusing himself by causing mischief. One day, Old Matumomaru turned himself into a very ugly beggar and wandered into the center of the village. Old Matumomaru’s pet crow rode on his shoulder, and every time Old Matumomaru passed a cooking pot, the crow would fly over and start eating until the pot was empty. If the woman who was cooking saw the crow first, it would defecate in the pot before the woman could chase it away. Old Matumomaru laughed and laughed, until suddenly an arrow struck the crow and it died. Old Matumomaru became very angry.

“Who killed that crow?” Old Matumomaru demanded.

“Why do you ask?” said the man holding the bow, “Was it going to be your supper?”

“Then it was you who killed my crow,” Old Matumomaru said, pointing at the man, “How dare you kill my pet. Who do you think you are?”

“I am Green Bird,” said the man, “And I killed it because it was making the women screech. Women are annoying enough without your help.”

Old Matumomaru looked carefully at Green Bird and smiled. There might be a way to have fun with this arrogant boy and take revenge for the attack on his pet at the same time.

“I have never heard of Green Bird the Crow-Killer,” said Old Matumomaru, “I only see a stupid boy who cannot go out hunting by himself.”

Green Bird frowned.

“If you have not heard of me, old beggar, it is because you are deaf. I am the greatest hunter and warrior in this village.”

“Certainly, the greatest hunter and warrior wouldn’t be cooking for himself, would he?” Old Matumomaru said, pointing to the cooking pot Green Bird was tending to, “Where is your wife?”

“I have no wife. Women are annoying,” said Green Bird.

Old Matumomaru was not fooled. He had the gift of seeing a man’s desires in his eyes, and Green Bird was as clear as air to him.

“With no wife, you will have no sons. When you are old and feeble, you will die because there will be no sons to hunt for you. What a stupid boy you are.”

“I do not need a wife to have a strong son!” Green Bird shouted, “Who do you think you are, beggar, telling me these stupid lies about women!”

Old Matumomaru laughed and took off his disguise. Green Bird suddenly realized who he was yelling at and got worried. What would Old Matumomaru do if he was angry?

“I don’t care that you killed my crow,” Old Matumomaru said.

Old Matumomaru waved his hand and the crow flew back to his shoulder, not hurt at all.

“I care that you are a little brat and must learn some manners,” Old Matumomaru said, “You want a son? Fine. You will go out and make yourself a son, one born without the help of any woman, and I will come back in three years to see if your son is very strong.”

“How will you know if my son is strong?” Green Bird asked.

“I will test him against my own son,” Old Matumomaru said, “And if you do not have a strong son, I will pluck out your eyes and teeth and eat them for lunch. I will take all your fingers and toes and feed them to my crow. And then I will turn you into a woman and give you three husbands. If your son ends up being strong, then something will happen to me instead.”

Green Bird felt angry, but he had no choice. He agreed and Matumomaru vanished.

Green Bird set out to find some sort of son, one born without the help of any woman. It was very hard. Green Bird wandered around in the wilds outside the village until he found a tiger cub. Green Bird knew tigers grew very strong and thought that a tiger would make a good son for him. Before Green Bird could pick up the tiger cub, the mother tiger walked out of its den.

“What are you doing with my baby?” asked the mother tiger.

“I must have a strong son, without the help of any woman,” Green Bird replied, “Will you give me this cub?”

“I will not,” the mother tiger said, and growled.

“I will fight you for it,” Green Bird said, raising his spear.

To Green Bird’s astonishment, the mother tiger laughed and laughed.

“You want a son? You are about to fight me for my daughter!” the mother tiger said.

“Do you have a son in your cave? I will fight you for him,” Green Bird said.

The mother tiger laughed again.

“I only have this daughter. I left her outside because Old Matumomaru said she must marry the family of the first one to fight me for her. You will be a good relative, and when your son is grown he will marry my daughter, or I will eat you.”

Green Bird agreed, and the mother tiger took her daughter back into the den. After that, Green Bird searched by the river, trying to find himself a son. At the rapids, Green Bird found many large stones. Sitting by the stones was an old man whose hair was covered in soggy weeds from the water.

“Who are you?” Green Bird asked.

“I am the god of the river. Lady Tiger has told me that Old Matumomaru is making you find a strong son? You may have any of mine,” the old man said, waving at the stones scattered about.

Green Bird thought about this. Surely a son made of stone would be very strong indeed. And nothing made stones, not even women. Green Bird picked out a big stone from the river and took it back home with him.

For the next three years, Green Bird raised the stone. He named it Stone Bird, and built a new house for his son to live in. He killed animals and used their skins to make clothes for Stone Bird. Green Bird gave many presents to Stone Bird, including cattle, until Stone Bird was one of the richest in the village. Green Bird taught numbers and letters to his son, as well as how to hunt and fight. Many people in the village thought Green Bird had gone crazy. Word spread, and people from villages far away came to watch Green Bird pretending that his stone son was real.

After three years passed, Old Matumomaru appeared in the village. When he heard this, Green Bird went out to greet Old Matumomaru.

“You look very fat, boy,” Old Matumomaru greeted him, “I see you have been laying about these three years. Did you forget the promise you made me?”

“I did not,” Green Bird said, “If I am fatter then you remember, it is because my son is such a great hunter.”

Green Bird lead Old Matumomaru to the field where Stone Bird was watching the cattle. Old Matumomaru looked on in amazement as Green Bird boasted how his son had won many cows in wrestling matches.

“Now, let our sons prove who is stronger,” Green Bird said, “Where is your son, Matumomaru?”

Old Matumomaru summoned his son, who appeared in a flash of light. The problem was, Old Matumomaru had not expected Green Bird to succeed in finding a son without any help from a woman. In fact, Old Matumomaru had no son, but since Green Bird was stupid enough to treat a stone as a son, Old Matumomaru had found a rock and dressed it up.

“This is my son, Shishimimaru,” Old Matumomaru said, “And he is far superior to your son. He owns twice as many goats as your son owns cattle, and is unequaled in all skills. Let the contest begin!”

Old Matumomaru, Green Bird, Stone Bird, and Shishimimaru traveled to a field far away from the village. In this field was a pen, and inside the pen was a ferocious wild boar. The boar was charging the walls of the pen and squealing horribly.

“This is the first challenge,” Old Matumomaru said, “Your son and mine will both try to tame this wild boar. To keep you from interfering, you will take a walk with me.”

“As you wish,” Green Bird said, and the two of them took a walk.

When Green Bird and Old Matumomaru returned, the boar was tame. It was curled up against Stone Bird, lying calmly, and when it saw Green Bird it only begged for a treat. Shishimimaru, on the other hand, had fallen over backwards and was lying in a sunny patch of grass.

“Stone Bird has tamed the boar,” Green Bird said, “But it appears that Shishimimaru has decided to take a nap instead. My son is not as lazy as yours, Matumomaru.”

Angered, Old Matumomaru lead them all to the next test. They stood by the river where it was deep and wide. On the other side of the river, Old Matumomaru stuck a stick in the ground. On the top of the stick, Old Matumomaru left a beautiful necklace of gold.

“Now, the son that crosses the river first will be the winner, and he will get that necklace to keep,” Old Matumomaru said, “And we will stay here and watch this time.”

“As you wish,” Green Bird said.

As soon as the two sons were told to start, Shishimimaru slowly fell over, landing in the water, and sinking with a splash.

“Oh ho,” said Old Matumomaru, “Shishimimaru has started to swim already! But your son only sits on the bank, cowering in fear.”

“He is wise to be cautious,” Green Bird replied, “Stone Bird knows better than to swim in the river when a crocodile is nearby.”

Sure enough, a hungry crocodile was swimming to where Shishimimaru had fallen in. Old Matumomaru gave a big yell and ran to pull his son back out of the water. While Old Matumomaru was saving his son, a big log floated down the river, right next to the bank. When the log reached the spot where Stone Bird was sitting, Stone Bird fell over and landed on the log. Then the log drifted over to the other side of the river, where Stone Bird fell off onto the other bank.

“See how clever Stone Bird is?” Green Bird said, “He waits patiently, and then uses a boat to cross the river. While Shishimimaru dives right in, ignoring every danger just because he wants something. My son is not as stupid as yours, Matumomaru.”

“Another test!” Old Matumomaru yelled, and lead the four of them into a new field.

“Now we shall see whose son is the better warrior,” Old Matumomaru said, “They will fight each other to the death! The one left standing will be the best son!”

For the fight, Old Matumomaru gave Shishimimaru a nasty-looking scythe to fight with. Green Bird gave Stone Bird his best spear. When the sons were squared off to fight, there was a tense moment of waiting. Then Shishimimaru fell over backwards, landing with a thump. Green Bird laughed and laughed.

“Your son is a coward, Matumomaru!” Green Bird said, “He has fainted from fear! Clearly Stone Bird is the best son! Are you done with these foolish tests?”

“No,” Old Matumomaru said, “There is one more test. If your son fails, lucky boy, we will stand even, and I won’t do the terrible things I promised to do to you.”

“Stone Bird is braver, smarter, and more hard-working than your son, and you insist on this stupid test? Very well,” said Green Bird.

“You are still a stupid boy after all,” said Old Matumomaru, “For this test, let us see one important thing your son has that mine does not possess. Something that is here, right now. Let us see it!”

Old Matumomaru laughed, certain of victory. Then the bushes around the field rustled, and out walked a young female tiger. The tiger walked over and sat by Green Bird.

“Eh? Who are you?” demanded Old Matumomaru.

“I am called Sweet Fang,” said the tiger, “I am the wife-to-be of Green Bird’s son, Stone Bird.”

“You see? My son has a wife. Where is your son’s wife, Matumomaru?” said Green Bird.

“AGH! NO!” yelled Old Matumomaru, who began to shrivel into nothing.

The penalty for losing in his own games was death, and before Old Matumomaru had always done sneaky, sly things in order to win. But now he shriveled into nothing, and was never seen again.

“Father,” Sweet Fang said after another moment, “Why is my husband inside that shell? It looks very uncomfortable.”

Green Bird thought about this. Then he took his spear and banged Stone Bird very hard with the handle. Much to his amazement, the stone cracked in half, and out spilled a young man. The young man’s hair and skin looked like stone.

“Stone Bird?” asked Green Bird.

“Hello Father,” Stone Bird said, stretching himself, “Thank you for letting me out. Who is that over there?”

“This is Sweet Fang, your wife,” Green Bird said.

“I do not mind marrying a tiger,” Stone Bird said, “But the villagers will be scared of her.”

“No worries,” said Sweet Fang, and she pulled off her tiger skin and stood upright, now a very beautiful woman, “Let us go home now, Father, Husband?”

Stone Bird gave his new wife the necklace he had won in the second challenge as a wedding present, and then Stone Bird, Sweet Fang, and Green Bird walked back to the village together.