The Bird with Nine Heads

Long, long ago a king and queen had a daughter. One day, while the princess was strolling in the garden, a sudden, violent storm blew up and swept her away. The storm had been raised by the bird with nine heads, who snatched the princess and carried her off to his cave. The king had no idea where his daughter had gone, so he announced throughout the land: “Whoever brings the princess back may marry her!”

Now, one young man had seen the bird carrying the princess to his cave. But the cave sat in the middle of a sheer cliff, impossible to climb up to from below or down to from above. While the young man was walking around the foot of the rock, another young man came by and asked what he was doing. The first youth explained that the bird with nine heads had taken the king’s daughter up to the cave. The newcomer knew just what to do. He gathered his friends, and together they let the first youth down to the cave in a basket.

Inside, the youth found the princess washing the bird’s wound, for the hound of heaven had bitten off the bird’s tenth head, and the stump was still bleeding. The princess signalled to the youth to hide, and he did. Once she had cleaned and bandaged the wound, the bird felt so comfortable that his nine heads dropped off to sleep, one after another. Then the youth stepped out of hiding and cut off all nine heads with his sword.

“It would be best if they pulled you up first and I came after,” said the princess.

“No,” said the youth. “I will wait down here until you are safe.” She did not like the idea, but at last he persuaded her to climb into the basket. Before she did, she took a long pin from her hair, broke it in two, and gave him one half while keeping the other. She also tore her silk kerchief in half and shared it with him, telling him to keep both gifts safe. But when the other young man had hauled the princess up, he led her away and left the youth behind in the cave, no matter how he shouted and begged.

The youth looked around the cave. He found many maidens whom the bird had carried off and who had starved to death there. On the wall hung a fish, fastened with four nails. When he touched it, the fish became a handsome young man, who thanked him for setting him free, and the two agreed to be brothers.

Soon the youth grew very hungry. He went out in front of the cave looking for food, but found nothing but stones. Suddenly he saw a great dragon licking a stone. He did the same, and before long his hunger was gone. Then he asked the dragon how to get away from the cave. The dragon nodded toward its tail, as if telling him to sit on it. He climbed on, and in the blink of an eye he was down on the ground, and the dragon had vanished.

Walking on, the youth found a tortoise shell full of beautiful pearls. They were magic: a pearl thrown into a fire put it out, and a pearl thrown into water parted the water so you could walk through. He put them in his pocket. Not long after, he came to the seashore and tossed a pearl into the sea. At once the waters opened, and he saw the sea-dragon.

“Who dares disturb me in my own kingdom?” roared the dragon.

“I found pearls in a tortoise shell and threw one into the sea, and the waters parted for me,” said the youth.

“In that case,” said the dragon, “come down into the sea and live with me.” Then the youth realized this was the same dragon he had seen outside the cave—and with him was the young man he had sworn brotherhood with, who was the dragon’s son.

“You saved my son and became his brother, so I am your father,” said the old dragon, and he treated the youth to fine food and wine.

One day his new brother told him, “My father will surely want to reward you. Take no money and no jewels—ask only for the little gourd flask over there. With it you can call up anything you wish.” Sure enough, the dragon asked what reward he wanted. “No money and no jewels,” the youth answered. “Only that little gourd flask.” The dragon did not want to part with it at first, but in the end he gave it to him, and the youth left the dragon’s palace.

As soon as he stood on dry land, he felt hungry, and at once a table appeared before him, laden with a splendid meal. He ate and drank. After walking a while he grew tired, and there stood a donkey waiting to carry him. But the donkey’s gait was too bumpy, so a cart rolled up and he climbed in. The cart jolted him badly too, and he thought, “If only I had a litter! That would suit me better.” No sooner had he thought it than a litter arrived, and the bearers carried him to the city where the king, the queen, and their daughter lived.

Meanwhile, the other young man had brought the princess home, and a wedding had been arranged. But the princess refused. “He is not the right man,” she said. “My rescuer will come, carrying half of my long hairpin and half of my silk kerchief as proof.” When the true rescuer still did not appear after a long time, and the other man kept pressing the king, the king lost patience. “The wedding will be tomorrow!” he declared.

Sadly, the princess wandered through the city streets, searching everywhere for her rescuer. That was the very day the litter arrived. She saw the half kerchief in the youth’s hand and joyfully brought him to her father. There he had to show his half of the hairpin, which matched hers exactly, and the king was convinced that this was her true rescuer. The false bridegroom was punished, the wedding was held, and the two lived in peace and happiness for the rest of their days.

About this tale

“The Bird With Nine Heads” is one of the nursery tales that open Richard Wilhelm’s The Chinese Fairy Book, which Frederick H. Martens translated for Frederick A. Stokes of New York in 1921. Wilhelm’s note describes it as a traditionally narrated fairy tale.

The note adds that the broken hairpin is an example of the halved jewel that lovers use as a sign of recognition, and that the fish nailed in the cave is the dragon’s son, since Chinese dragons, like the Nagaradjas of India, are often sea-gods. It also observes that gourd flasks often appear as magic talismans in Chinese fairy tales.

Read the original: The Bird With Nine Heads in The Chinese Fairy Book (Project Gutenberg)

Best for ages 9–12 with adult discussion. Includes kidnapping, a many-headed monster being killed, discovery of captives who starved, betrayal and pressure to marry. The cave scenes may distress some readers.

Reading the story closely

The princess helps make the rescue possible: she signals the hiding place, tends the bird until it sleeps, divides the recognition tokens, rejects the false claimant and finally searches the streets. The king’s promise of her hand does not make his later refusal to listen harmless. Her tokens matter because the powerful person deciding the marriage has dismissed her testimony.

Draw a route from cave to shore to sea palace to city, labeling what enables each move. The dragon’s tail gets the youth off the cliff; the pearls open the sea; the gourd provides food and transport afterward. Then trace the two broken objects, whose value lies in a shared encounter rather than magical power.

Talk about it

• Why does the princess give the youth half of her hairpin and half of her kerchief?
• How does freeing the fish on the cave wall end up helping the youth?
• Why do you think the dragon’s son told the youth to refuse money and jewels?

Related stories

• Yang Gui Fe — another tale in which a token broken in two proves who is who
• The Favorite of Fortune and the Child of Ill Luck — another nursery tale about a princess and an unlikely husband
• The Cave of the Beasts — two abandoned sisters find a cave full of treasure