Once, when time was not quite old enough to be
counted, there lived a beautiful Indian maiden. This was a special
maiden. She could do all the work that needed to be done to keep her
lodge in order and to satisfy her mate. But this maiden did not have
what she longed for - her mate. As she sat under the large tree one
day, she heard the Redbird.
"Redbird, is it so strange for me to wish to have someone to care for,
who will care for me?", asked the maiden. "If it is not so strange,
why have I not found that one meant for me?"
The redbird had no answer for the Indian maiden, but he sat and
listened to her because he could hear the lonely in her voice. Every
morning for the passing of seven suns, the Redbird came and listened
to the maiden's story. As each day passed, the loneliness felt by the
maiden began to fill the Redbird.
One day in the Redbird's far travels, he came to a handsome Indian
brave. The brave saw the Redbird and called to him. As he began to
talk, the Redbird felt the loneliness in his voice that the maiden had
shown. Soon the Redbird began to see that these two lonely people had
the same wish, to find another who would love and care for them as
they would care for their mate.
On the fifth day of listening to the brave, the Redbird became as a
bird that is sick. The brave became concerned, for the Redbird had
become his friend. As the brave walked toward him, the Redbird began
hopping, leading the brave to the lodge of the Indian maiden. Because
the brave was wanting to see if the Redbird was all right, he did not
notice that he was going from his home. The Redbird saw the Indian
maiden sitting outside of her lodge and when he came very close to her
(to where the brave would see the Indian maiden) he flew away. The
brave saw the Indian maiden and realized that he had wandered far from
his home. He went to the Indian maiden to ask where he was.
The Redbird sat in the tree and watched the brave and the maiden. At
first the brave was shy and the maiden would not talk, but soon they
were talking and laughing like old friends.
Redbird saw this and thought that it was good. He had done as he could
and now it was up to the brave and maiden. As Redbird flew to his home
he thought of how Great Spirit had known that someday the two would
find each other. Now it was good, thought Redbird, that maiden had
someone who would see for her and Brave had someone that would hear
for him and that they finally had someone who would care.
