II
I flew away early the next morning, and was lucky enough to find shelter under an old gutter. It rained hard that night. I was just about to go to bed, when a very wet bird came in and sat down beside me. His feathers were grayish like mine, but he was much larger than myself.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"I don't know," I replied. "I pass for a blackbird but I am white."
"I am the finest bird in the world," he said. "I am a carrier pigeon and carry messages."
Then I saw that a traveling bag hung from his neck.
"Maybe I am a pigeon," I said, "since I am not a blackbird."
"No," he answered, "a runt like you could not be a pigeon."
The next morning the pigeon sprang from the gutter and flew away as fast as the wind. As I was lonely, I followed him. He flew faster and faster, but I kept up for a good while. At last my strength gave out and I fell down into a meadow.
I was stunned by the fall. When I came to my senses, two birds stood near by looking at me. One was a dainty little magpie; the other a soft-eyed turtle dove. The magpie kindly offered me some berries she had gathered.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"A blackbird or a pigeon," I said sadly. "I don't know which."
"Are you joking?" she cried. "You are a magpie."
"But magpies are not white," I said.
"Russian magpies are," she answered; "perhaps you belong to that family."
My joy was great for a moment at finding out what I was. Still I was not sure that I was a magpie and thought I might settle the matter by singing. I burst into song and warbled and whistled, and whistled and warbled.
The magpie looked at me in surprise. Then her face grew sad and she backed off from me. At last she flew away without another word. Whatever I might be, I was not a magpie—not even a Russian magpie.
I made up my mind not to rest until I found out what bird I was. So I flew off to a place where birds of all kinds met to talk and enjoy themselves. There were robins and sparrows and crows and wrens and martins and every sort of bird. But I was not like any of them and whenever I began to sing, they all laughed.
"You are not one of us," they said; "you are a white blackbird. That is what you are."