as he stood musing on this fairy spectacle , a strange noise came to his ear from a distance . at first it seemed like a human voice . after following the sound he reached the shore of a lake . floating at a distance upon its waters sat a most beautiful red swan , whose plumage glittered in the sun , and when it lifted up its neck , it uttered the peculiar tone he had heard . he was within long bow - shot , and , drawing the arrow to his ear , he took a careful aim and discharged the shaft . it took no effect . the beautiful bird sat proudly on the water , still pouring forth its peculiar chant , and still spreading the radiance of its plumage far and wide , and lighting up the whole world , beneath the eye of maidwa , with its ruby splendors . he shot again and again , till his quiver was empty , for he longed to possess so glorious a creature . still the swan did not spread its wings to fly , but , circling round and round , stretched its long neck and dipped its bill into the water , as if indifferent to mortal shafts . maidwa ran home , and bringing all the arrows in the lodge , shot them away . he then stood with his bow dropped at his side , lost in wonder , gazing at the beautiful bird . while standing thus , with a heart beating more and more eagerly every moment for the possession of this fair swan , maidwa remembered the saying of his elder brother , that in their deceased father 's medicine - sack were three magic arrows . his brother had not told maidwa that their father , on his death - bed , which he alone had attended , had especially bequeathed the arrows to his youngest son , maidwa , from whom they had been wrongfully kept . the thought of the magic arrows put heart in maidwa , and he hastened with all speed to secure them . at any other time he would have shrunk from opening his father 's medicine - sack , but something prompted him to believe that there was no wrong now . snatching them forth he ran back , not staying to restore the other contents to the sack , but leaving them scattered , here and there , about the lodge . he feared , as he returned , that the swan must by this time have taken wing . but , as he emerged from the wood , to his great delight the air was as rosy as ever , and there , in her own serene and beautiful way , still sat the glorious red swan . with trembling hand he shot the first of his magic shafts : it grazed a wing . the second came closer , and cut away a few of the bright red feathers , which fluttered and fell like flakes of fire in the water . the third , which he carefully aimed and drew home upon the string with all his force , made the lucky hit , and passed through the neck of the bird a little above the breast . " the bird is mine , " said maidwa , to himself . but to his great surprise , instead of seeing it droop its neck and drift to the shore , the red swan flapped its wings , rose slowly , and flew off with a majestic motion toward the falling sun . maidwa , that he might meet his brothers , rescued two of the magic arrows from the water ; and although the third was borne off , he had a hope yet to recover that too , and to be master of the swan . he was noted for his speed ; for he would shoot an arrow and then run so fast that the arrow always fell behind him ; and he now set off at his best speed of foot . " i can run fast , " he thought , " and i can get up with the swan some time or other . " he sped on , over hills and prairies , toward the west , and was only going to take one more run , and then seek a place to sleep for the night , when , suddenly , he heard noises at a distance , like the murmur of waters against the shore . as he went on , he heard voices , and presently he saw people , some of whom were busy felling trees , and the strokes of their labor echoed through the woods . he passed on , and when he emerged from the forest , the sun was just falling below the edge of the sky . he was bent on success in pursuit of the swan , whose red track he marked well far westward till she was lost to sight . meanwhile he would tarry for the night and procure something to eat , as he had fasted since he had left home . at a distance , on a rising ground , he could see the lodges of a large village . he went toward it , and soon heard the watchman , who was set on a height to overlook the place , and give notice of the approach of friends or foes , crying out , " we are visited ; " and a loud halloo indicated that they had all heard it . when maidwa advanced , the watchman pointed to the lodge of the chief . " it is there you must go in , " he said , and left him . " come in , come in , " said the chief ; " take a seat there ; " pointing to the side of the lodge where his daughter sat . " it is there you must sit . " they gave him something to eat , and , being a stranger , very few questions were put to him . it was only when he spoke that the others answered him . " daughter , " said the chief , as soon as the night had set in , " take our son - in - law 's moccasins and see if they be torn . if so , mend them for him , and bring in his bundle . " 
the red swan was beautiful .
why did maidwa bent on success in pursuit of the swan ?
why did maidwa bent on success in pursuit of the swan ?