Once, people ran from every strange shape, for it was always some monster or fiend. The most mysterious, it is said, was a great bird, if it could be called that, for it was larger than any bird or barn and never flapped its wings but only held them in different positions. Moreover, it did not cry on its constant travels. It only looked down, and if a bird could sneer, it did.
It passed over every city, every village, the farms and shacks too each in its turn, and when a visitor from abroad came it came without fail to investigate. At first the people feared it as much as the manticores, gargoyles, harpies, and all the other dreadful enemies of mankind, but as it never killed anyone or hauled away a cow, they came to feel reassured when it passed overhead, much as when they caught sight of a neighbor hard at work. Some began to offer prayers they hoped it would carry to better places.
Then one day a traveler arrived, firm of hand and step. The great bird saw him and without hesitation entered a dive, and all were shocked who saw it save for the target alone, who unsheathed his sword and cut apart that ranger of the skies with one blow though it seemed impossible given its size. Yet the bird split cleanly into two, and inside it was empty and bloodless. And one among them who was the oldest and wisest advised the traveler to go inside.
He did, and pulled the two halves together, and they joined together as if never cut. The bird then soared straight up to take the battle to heaven which a host of demons had conquered, and for once mankind hoped.
Finis
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