The Crane and the Heron

An owl flew about—a merry little soul. She flew and flew, then perched, twitched her tail, looked all around, and flew off again. She flew and flew, then…

An owl flew about—a merry little soul. She flew and flew, then perched, twitched her tail, looked all around, and flew off again. She flew and flew, then perched, twitched her tail, and looked all around... That was only the opening; the whole tale is still to come.

Once upon a time, a crane and a heron lived in a marsh. They built themselves little huts at opposite ends. The crane found it lonely to live by himself, so he decided to marry.

— I think I will go and ask the heron to marry me!

Off went the crane—squelch, squelch! He trudged through seven versts of marsh, came to the heron's hut, and said:

— Is the heron at home?

— She is.

— Will you marry me?

— No, crane, I will not marry you. Your legs are long, your coat is short, you are a poor flyer, and you have nothing to feed me with! Go away, longlegs!

The crane went home as though he had been served unsalted soup.

Later, the heron changed her mind and said:

— Rather than live alone, I would be better off marrying the crane.

She came to the crane and said:

— Crane, take me as your wife!

— No, heron, I do not need you! I do not want to marry, and I will not take you as my wife. Go away!

The heron cried out of shame and went back home.

The crane changed his mind and said:

— I should not have refused to marry the heron; it is lonely to live alone. I will go and marry her now.

He came to her and said:

— Heron! I have decided to marry you. Be my wife.

— No, crane, I will not marry you!

The crane went home.

Then the heron changed her mind:

— Why did I turn him down? Why should I live alone? I would be better off marrying the crane!

She came to ask him to marry her, but the crane did not want to.

And that is how, to this very day, they keep going back and forth to ask each other to marry, yet they never do.