the father answered : " my son , you know not what you ask . if you get up now , all your glory will depart . wait patiently a little longer . you have but three days more , and your term will be completed . you know it is for your own good , and i encourage you to persevere . shall not your aged father live to see you a star among the chieftains and the beloved of battle ? " the son assented ; and covering himself more closely , that he might shut out the light which prompted him to complain , he lay till the eleventh day , when he repeated his request . the father addressed iadilla as he had the day before , and promised that he would himself prepare his first meal , and bring it to him by the dawn of the morning . the son moaned , and the father added : " will you bring shame upon your father when his sun is falling in the west ? " " i will not shame you , my father , " replied iadilla ; 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 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 stooped his ear 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 ! my son ! i pray you leave me not ! " but the young man , with the quickness of a bird , had flown 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 beaming in his eyes , and addressed him as follows : 
his father would lose his only son .
why will the father be the lone sufferer ?
why will the father be the lone sufferer ?