The Bird King – Kuk

The first leader among the birds was Kook. His wife ordered him to gather all the birds and make a nest from their bones. All the birds flew in, except for the crow. Kook went out and asked:

"Are all the birds here?"

They replied:

"The crow is missing."

He was gone for one day, then a second—the birds sat for two days without eating. On the third day, the crow returned.

"Where have you been?" Kook asked him.

"I flew around the world, observing what is more abundant: mountains or valleys."

"And what is more abundant?"

"Valleys."

"You're lying!" Kook said. "There must be an equal number."

"No, there are more valleys. I count that mountain as a valley where water stands."

Kook let the birds go to feed and ordered them to gather again the next day.

The next day, all the birds gathered, but the crow was missing again. Kook went out and asked:

"Are all the birds here?"

"The crow," they said, "is missing."

He was gone for one day, then a second—the birds sat for two days without eating. On the third day, the crow returned. Kook went out and asked:

"Where have you been?"

"I was counting trees: which are more abundant—dry or green ones?"

"And which are more abundant?"

"Dry ones," the crow said.

"You're lying! There are more green ones."

"No," the crow said, "there are more dry ones. I count a tree as dry if even one branch is dry."

Kook let the birds go to feed and ordered them to gather again the next day.

The next day, all the birds gathered once more, but the crow was missing again. They waited for him for one day, then a second—no crow. On the third day, the crow returned. Kook asked him:

"Where have you been?"

"I flew around the world."

"What were you doing?"

"I was counting who is more abundant: women or men."

"And who is more abundant? Women or men?"

"Women," the crow said.

"You're lying," Kook said.

"No, there are more women. I count a man as a woman if he obeys a woman."

Kook thought to himself: "It's bad that I wanted to obey my wife!"—and he told her that he would no longer obey her.

The birds rebelled and decided to choose a new leader. Kook got scared and hid in a hole. The falcon said:

"I'll kill him, just call him out!" There was an oak tree above the hole. The cuckoo began to tease Kook. She flew up to the hole and kept saying:

"Cuckoo! Cuckoo!"

Kook got angry, came out of the hole. She flew up to the tree. He went back into the hole. The cuckoo flew down from the tree, flew up to the hole again:

"Cuckoo! Cuckoo!"

Kook got angry again, came out of the hole. She flew up to the tree. Kook hid in the hole again. And she once more:

"Cuckoo! Cuckoo!"

Kook chased her for the third time and sat on a branch. That's when the falcon killed him. Kook fell. The birds didn't know he was dead. The cuckoo kept flying lower and saying:

"Cuckoo! Cuckoo!"

He remained silent. Then she said:

"Hee, hee! Cuckoo for Kook."

And the falcon took Kook's place. As for the cuckoo, while she was flying around teasing Kook, she laid an egg. The other birds took it upon themselves to hatch it. And that's why, from that time on, she doesn't sit on her own eggs.

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The Bird King – Kuk

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