Not far from the palace of the King, the Blackbird had to cross over a river.
“Where are you going, Mr. Blackbird?” asked the River.
“To fight against the King, for he has taken my wife as prisoner.”
“Jump into my ear,” said the Blackbird. So the River went into his ear, and away they all went to the palace of the King.
When they reached the outer gate, the bold Blackbird knocked loudly: “Thump! Thump! Thump!”
“General Blackbird, who has come to make war upon the King and to get his wife back again,” said the Blackbird.
When the Porter saw General Blackbird in his frog-skin coat of armor, with his helmet and drum made from a walnut shell, and with a thorn for a sword, he laughed so hard that he could scarcely open the gate. And when the King saw the bold bird, he laughed so heartily he nearly fell from his throne. “Ha! Ha! Ha!” roared the King. “What do you wish with me, bold General Blackbird?”
“I want my wife at once,” said the Blackbird, beating upon his drum, rub-a-dub, rub-a-dub!
“You shall not have her! I have shut her up in a cage and I am waiting for her to sing to me,” said the King.
“Very well, then,” answered the Blackbird. “War is declared and you must take the consequences.” Rub-a-dub, rub-a-dub! went the drum.
“Seize that insolent bird,” said the King, “and shut him up in the hen-house. There will be nothing left of him in the morning.”
So the servants took the Blackbird and threw him out into the hen-house.
When all the world was sound asleep, Blackbird said:
“Come out, Pussy, from my ear! There are many fowls for you here; Scratch them—make their feathers fly, Wring their necks until they die!”
“Miaow! Miaow,” said the big Pussy Cat. And in an instant all was wild confusion in the hen-house.
“Cluck-cluck-cluck!” said the Hens, as they went scurrying all over the place. “Bad luck-cluck-cluck!”
“Cock-a-doodle-do-oo! Get out of here, oh, do!” shrieked the Rooster.
“Quack, Quack!” said the Ducks. “Alack, Alack!”
“Hiss-ss! Hiss-ss! What’s amiss-ss?” hissed the Geese.
But the big Pussy Cat caught them all, scratched out their feathers, and soon made an end of them. Then she climbed back into the Blackbird’s ear, and they all went to sleep.
The next morning, the King said to his servants, “Go and find the body of that insolent bird and give all of my poultry an extra measure of corn.”