“Will you bring shame upon your father when his sun is falling in the West?”
“I will not shame you, my father,” replied Opeechee; and he lay so still and motionless that you could only know that he was living by the gentle heaving of his breast.
At the spring of the day, the next morning, the father, delighted at having gained his end, prepared a repast for his son, and hastened to set it before him. On coming to the door of the little lodge, he was surprised to hear his son talking to himself.
He held his ear down to listen, and, looking through a small opening, he was yet more astonished when he beheld his son painted with vermilion over all his breast, and in the act of finishing his work by laying on the paint as far back on his shoulders as he could reach with his hands, saying at the same time, to himself: “My father has destroyed my fortune as a man. He would not listen to my requests. He has urged me beyond my tender strength. He will be the loser. I shall be forever happy in my new state, for I have been obedient to my parent. He alone will be the sufferer, for my guardian spirit is a just one. Though not propitious to me in the manner I desired, he has shown me pity in another way—he has given me another shape; and now I must go.”
At this moment the old man broke in exclaiming:
“My son! I pray you leave me not!”
But the young man with the quickness of a bird flew to the top of the lodge and perched himself on the highest pole, having been changed into a beautiful robin red-breast. He looked down upon his father with pity, and addressed him as follows:
“Regret not, my father, the change you behold. I shall be happier in my present state than I could have been as a man. I shall always be the friend of men, and keep near their dwellings. I shall ever be contented; and although I could not gratify your wishes as a warrior, it will be my daily aim to make you amends for it as a harbinger of peace and joy. I shall cheer you by my songs, and strive to inspire in others the joy and lightsomeness of heart I feel in my present state. This will be some compensation to you for the loss of glory you expected. I am now free from the cares and pains of human life. My food is furnished by the mountains and fields, and my pathway of life is in the bright air.”
Then, stretching himself on his toes, as if delighted with the gift of wings, Opeechee caroled one of his sweetest songs, and flew away into a neighboring wood.