The Story of Helly part 4/7
Presently the boy brought
some grain to feed the birds’ They swarmed around
the feeding tray and began gobbling up the grain. When
Helly came and tried to get a bite, they flew at her again. And again she had
to retreat to the far corner of
the cage, where she sat and thought how hungry
she was.
She said to
herself: “What a world ! What a horrible world ! Nobody ever worries about me. Nobody ever
thinks that I too need food and water. I’m all alone here.”
Then she went and asked
the other birds to please give her
some of the grain and let her have some water,
but they didn’t answer. None of the
hens and roosters and doves took pity on her. Instead, whenever
Helly came near them
they would peck her on the head. They pecked her so much that part of
the crest fell off her head.
And finally she quit talking entirely,
she quit walking around, she quit
pecking, and she quit begging for food
and water. All she did was sit in her far
corner of the cage and murmur: “What a world
! What a horrible world ! No water,
no food.”
One day she
remembered the old man and
said to herself: “I wish he were here
now and would ask how I’m feeling. I’d tell him, all right, how horrible
everything is. I’d tell him I’d do anything he wanted, go wherever
he wanted me to go, if only he would set me free and let me be happy again.”
