Because of your kind heart I will make you a present . Go on your way , and in a short time you will come to a tree on which sit nine birds who have a cloak in their claws and are quarrelling over it . Then take aim with your gun and shoot in the middle of them ; they will let the cloak fall , but one of the birds will be hit and will drop down dead . Take the cloak with you ; it is a wishing-cloak , and when you throw it on your shoulders you have only to wish yourself at a certain place , and in the twinkling of an eye you are there . Take the heart out of the dead bird and swallow it whole , and early every morning when you get up you will find a gold piece under your pillow . ' The Hunter thanked the wise woman , and thought to himself ` These are splendid things she has promised me , if only they come to pass ! ' So he walked on about a hundred yards , and then he heard above him in the branches such a screaming and chirping that he looked up , and there he saw a heap of birds tearing a cloth with their beaks and feet , shrieking , tugging , and fighting , as if each wanted it for himself . ` Well , ' said the Hunter , ` this is wonderful ! It is just as the old woman said ' ; and he took his gun on his shoulder , pulled the trigger , and shot into the midst of them , so that their feathers flew about . Then the flock took flight with much screaming , but one fell dead , and the cloak fluttered down . Then the Hunter did as the old woman had told him : he cut open the bird , found its heart , swallowed it , and took the cloak home with him . The next morning when he awoke he remembered the promise , and wanted to see if it had come true . But when he lifted up his pillow , there sparkled the gold piece , and the next morning he found another , and so on every time he got up . He collected a heap of gold , but at last he thought to himself , ` What good is all my gold to me if I stay at home ? I will travel and look a bit about me in the world . ' So he took leave of his parents , slung his hunting knapsack and his gun round him , and journeyed into the world . It happened that one day he went through a thick wood , and when he came to the end of it there lay in the plain before him a large castle . At one of the windows in it stood an old woman with a most beautiful maiden by her side , looking out . But the old woman was a witch , and she said to the girl , ` There comes one out of the wood who has a wonderful treasure in his body which we must manage to possess ourselves of , darling daughter ; we have more right to it than he . He has a bird 's heart in him , and so every morning there lies a gold piece under his pillow . '
She told her how they could get hold of it , and how she was to coax it from him , and XXXXX last threatened her angrily , saying , ` And if you do not obey me , you shall repent it ! '
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