Once upon a time there were two orphaned sisters named Emily and Kayley. Kayley (the youngest) was beautiful and very kind. She was liked by everyone in the village where she lived. Whenever someone asked her for help she would help out right away. Emily (the eldest) was the complete opposite of her younger sister. She was mean and selfish. Being mean and selfish made her look very ugly. Because of the way she was she was very unpopular with the people of the village. No one liked her. This made Emily very jealous of her sister. For her own revenge she did anything to make Kayley’s life a misery; like making her a servant or try to humiliate her. But Kayley still remained kind and helpful.
One day Emily could not stand Kayley any longer. She told her sister to leave the house at once.
“What have I done wrong sister?” Kayley asked. She was shocked by her sister’s sudden outburst.
“Don’t ask questions just leave now!” yelled Emily. She wanted Kayley out of her sight as soon as possible.
So Kayley was thrown out of her own house by her own sister. The only thing for her to do now was find a new home. She decided to leave her village and find a different village to live in. Kayley was walking along a path, with a small basket of food, to find a different village when she spotted an old man sitting on a tree stump. The old man looked weak and tired.
“Is something wrong sir?” Kayley said to the old man.
“I haven’t had anything to eat since yesterday,” the old man said “may I have some of your food please?”
“Of course sir,” said Kayley “I have plenty of food for the both of us”.
Kayley’s small basket contained some pieces of bread with some cheese and a bottle of water. She divided the pieces of bread and cheese between them.
“Thank you young lady,” the old man said, after finishing his share “where are you heading?”
Kayley explained about losing her home in her village and looking for another village to live in. The old man told her about a village not too far from where they were sitting now. Kayley thanked the old man and was just about to leave when the old man stopped her.
“There is something I would like to give to you as a thank you gift” he said.
The old man whistled. After he whistled three birds appeared. One bird was a golden eagle. The second bird was a silver falcon. And the third bird was a copper coloured hawk. Kayley was amazed these birds appeared just like that. The three birds flew over to Kayley. Kayley stretched out her hands to them. The silver falcon landed on her right shoulder, the copper coloured hawk landed on her left hand and the golden eagle landed on her right hand.
“These three birds that I give to you as a gift are magical birds,” explained the old man “if you ever need money ask these three birds for some and they will give it to you”. Then the old man left.
Kayley was puzzled about what the old man just said. Three birds giving money to someone was something hard to believe. To find out what he meant Kayley asked the three birds for some money. The three birds flew up into the air and flapped their wings. Suddenly golden coins came out of the golden eagle’s wings like magic. The same happened with the silver falcon, except silver coins came out of its wings. And copper coins came from the copper coloured hawk. Kayley was amazed! These three birds were magical birds. Kayley was happy to have such amazing birds like them.
With the three magical birds at her side, Kayley soon came to the village that the old man had directed her to. The village seemed bigger than her old village but Kayley noticed that everyone was looking unhappy. There were mothers holding their children really close and their husbands were comforting them. Old people were praying at the sky.
“Excuse me madam” she said to an old woman “why is everyone looking unhappy?”
“This village is in difficult times” said the old woman “we’re in the middle of a drought and our crop fields aren’t doing well. We are barely growing enough food for everyone and if this keeps up this village will be doomed”.
“Isn’t there any place where you and the other villagers can buy food?” asked Kayley.
“There is a town near here which has lots of food to sell,” said the old woman “but none of us have the money to pay for it. Our fields are how we get our food”.
Kayley was dismayed by how much trouble this charming village was in. But she knew exactly what to do. She told the old woman to gather up all the villagers and meet her in the fields.
Soon all the villagers were in the fields; Kayley was already there waiting for them. She turned to her three birds and asked them to give the villagers money. The three birds flew up into the air and showered gold, silver and copper coins all over the field. The villagers were amazed what they just saw and began to gather up all the coins they needed for food. They were grateful to Kayley and called her a magical girl sent by God.
Unbeknown to Kayley she was being watched by someone. That person was a messenger from a kingdom nearby. When he saw what happened he raced off on his horse to tell the king at once.
The king of the kingdom was a wise and good king and was always willing to help his people. The king was now in a difficult position. It was now time for him to marry and so far he hadn’t found the right girl to be his queen. He wanted a girl who was kind, loving and helpful, not one who was mean, selfish and spoiled. When the messenger entered the throne room he told the king about the village girl with three magical birds. After the king heard everything he asked the messenger to bring the girl to him.
Meanwhile in the village, Kayley was feeding her three birds. She was just about to find someplace to stay when the messenger arrived in a carriage.
“I’m looking for the village girl with three birds” he shouted.
“That’s me sir” Kayley said, walking up to him.
“His majesty the king wishes to see you miss” said the messenger.
Kayley got into the carriage and both she and the messenger set off to the castle. When they arrived the messenger introduced to her king.
“What is your name young lady?” the king asked.
“Kayley your majesty” Kayley answered.
“I hear that you asked your three magic birds to give money to the villagers” the king said.
“Yes your majesty” said Kayley “the villagers needed money to buy food because their fields weren’t doing well. I couldn’t bear the thought of those people starving to death and that’s why I asked my three birds to give them money”.
“It seems that the plan worked Galen” said the king with a smile.
Standing next to the king was an old man called Galen. Kayley gasped! Galen was the old man who gave her the golden eagle, silver falcon and copper hawk.
“I can tell by the look on your face that you have a lot of questions to ask” the king said “but to let you know first, your three magical birds are really my pets”.
He reached out his arms and the golden eagle, silver falcon and copper hawk flew over to him. Kayley was surprised by that and really wanted to know what was going on.
“I will explain to you young lady” said Galen “you see his majesty has been looking for a bride. But he wanted a kind and caring bride. To find the right girl we came up with a plan. The plan was to see if the girl would help out anyone who needed help and who would use his majesty’s magic birds to help others and not use them for her own greed”.
“So the golden eagle, silver falcon and copper hawk were part of the plan too?” asked Kayley.
“Yes” said Galen “and you did a good deed to give the villagers money, even though they didn’t really have a drought”.
“So you being a starving old man and what the old woman in the village told me were both lies?” Kayley asked.
“I’m afraid so” said Galen “that old woman is my wife and she and I were chosen to see how kind you were”.
“We apologize for all the confusion we caused you” said the king “but now we don’t need to do it ever again” He got up off his throne and walked over to Kayley. Then he took her hand. “Dear lady I have found out how kind and caring as well as very beautiful you are. I now ask you to become my wife and queen”. Kayley was surprised by this and replied with a yes.
A few days later Kayley married the king and became queen. The people of the kingdom and village were happy that their king had found a bride at last. Kayley became loved by her husband and people for the rest of her life. She was even loved by the three magic birds too; they became her pets forever.
As for Kayley’s mean older sister Emily, she had been forgotten.
