She became a hare,
A hare upon the plain;
And he became a greyhound dog
And fetch'd her back again.
Hulloa, hulloa, hulloa, hulloa,
You coal black smith!
You have done me no harm
You never shall have my maidenhead
That I have kept so long;
I'd rather die a maid.
Yes, but then she said,
And be buried all in my grave
Than I'd have such a
nasty, husky, dusky, musty, fusky
coal-black smith
A maiden I will die."
"Birdee, what is that strange song you sing?" Bird whirled around to find Kali standing behind her, solemn-eyed and looking a little overwhelmed by all the last minute preparations.
"Why, Kali, it's just a silly skin-changer's song I learned when I was young." Bending down, she gestured the hobbrim close and whispered conspiratorially. "It's actually called 'The Meeting of Aulė and Yavanna', but don't tell Pio that. The Elves are rather touchy about having their precious Valar sung about in jest."
Kali nodded, wide-eyed and not really understanding the joke, but willing to play along all the same. "Do you know other skin-changer songs?" he asked
"Oh, a few, a few," Bird muttered. She was suddenly uncomfortable about the direction of the conversation. "Tell you what, though: along with any word we have of your kin, if I hear any good songs in our journey, I'll bring them back and we'll sing them together."
"I'd like that very much, Birdie...Did they change into very many things? Aulė and Yavanna, I mean?"
"Why yes, all sorts of silly things, which is really not how it works, but then, it's just a song. In the end Aulė wins her heart, and they rule their part of Arda to this very day."
Then Rose called to Kali for last minute advise on her costume, and he waved and ran back to the group of Hobbits.
Of course, Bird did not sing the last verse to Kali, Bird had never understood it herself, and in the present circumstances, it seemed to whisper dire portents:
"She became a corpse,
A corpse all in the ground.
And he became the cold, grey clay,
and covered her all around."
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