On his throne inlayed with moaning
Sits the king of pain
He has issued his order
For everything to run incorrectly.
***
According to his will,
Rivers flowed with mud
Trees bore rocks for fruit
Moons shined only for thieves
Secrets produced scandals
Beasts rode on the backs of people.
***
This and much more happened
To the four sons of man
Until water became brackish
Air spoiled
And ways were cut off.
***
The wise man of the land said:
You must have the glowing bird
For by the flittering of its wings
The throne of pain collapses.
***
The eastern son said
To his father, the man:
From my mother’s house
The sun rises everyday
And at my mother’s house
It takes its bath and beauty
Give me, then, your blessings, Father
To accompany my destiny
In search of the glowing bird.
***
The western son said
To his father, the man:
In my mother’s house
The sun seeks shelter
Having been weakened by tiredness
And at my mother’s house
It sleeps and dreams
Give me, then, your blessings, Father
To accompany my destiny
In search of the glowing bird.
***
The northern son said
To his father, the man
My mother whose beauty you love
So you built for her
A palace in the heights
Of the snow’s whiteness
And in it the sun seeks shelter
When exhausted of cooking the daylight
Give me, then, your blessings, Father
To accompany my destiny
In search of the glowing bird.
***
The southern son said
To his father, the man:
My mother whose house is the sea
And her maids are the waves
And with my mother’s mirror
The sun takes its beauty
Give me, then, your blessings, Father
To accompany my destiny
In search of the glowing bird.
***
The man permitted his four sons,
And to each gave his blessings,
To accompany their destinies
In search of the glowing bird.
***
So the eastern son headed west
And the western son headed east
The northern son headed south
And the southern son headed north.
***
The sky was gazing with astonishment
The king of pain was boiling with fury
The man was anguishing from waiting
The man’s women were feuding.
***
The eastern woman of the man said:
I won’t unbind the sun’s braids
And won’t delouse her hair
If the glowing bird is not
My son’s fortune.
***
The western woman of the man said:
I will never change the sun’s bed
And never perfume her bedchamber
If the glowing bird is not
My son’s fortune.
***
The northern woman of the man said:
I will never prepare the sun’s sleigh
And never sweep the snow out of her path
If the glowing bird is not
My son’s fortune.
***
The southern woman of the man said:
I will never prepare mirrors for the sun
And never wipe the clouds of her path
If the glowing bird is not
My son’s fortune.
***
In the middle of the way
The man’s four sons met
And introduced themselves
Man
To man.
***
The eastern son said:
I am the son of the man
And my mother is the mistress of the earth
And with me is my destiny
To search for the glowing bird.
So, who are you?
And what are you seeking?
***
The western son said:
I am the son of the man
And my mother is the mistress of the earth
And with me is my destiny
To search for the glowing bird.
***
The eastern son said:
My father the man has nothing
But his eastern woman.
***
And the western son said:
My father the man has nothing
But his western woman.
***
So the two sons fought
And each of them
Cut off the hands and legs
Of the other
And in the middle of the way
The two sons fell down
Smeared with regret.
***
The northern son said:
I am the son of the man
And my mother is the mistress of the earth
And with me is my destiny
To search for the glowing bird.
So, who are you?
And what are you seeking?
***
The southern son said:
I am the son of the man
And my mother is the mistress of the earth
And with me is my destiny
To search for the glowing bird.
***
The northern said:
My father the man has nothing
But his northern woman.
***
The southern son said:
My father the man has nothing
But his southern woman.
***
So the two sons fought
And each of them
Cut off the hands and legs
Of the other
And in the middle of the way
The two sons fell down
Smeared with regret
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