The Gift

  C
A poor orphan girl named Maria
    C
Was walking the market one day.
    G
She stopped for to rest by the road 
side
        G7
Where a bird with a broken wing lay.


  C
A few moments passed till she saw it
         C
For it's feathers were covered with 
sand.
    G
And soon clean and wrapped it was 
traveling
       G
In the warmth of Maria's small hand.


    F
She happily gave her last peso
      C
For a cage made of rushes and twine.
    F
She fed it loose corn from the 
market,
    C
And watched it grow stronger with 
time.


        C
Now the gift giving service was 
coming,
        C
And the church shone with tinsel and
 lights,
Continúa después del anuncio
    G
And all of the town folk brought 
presents,
   G7
To lay by the manger that night.


      C
There were diamonds and incense and 
perfume
   C                  G
In packages fit for a king.
        G
But for one ragged bird in a small 
cage,
G7           C
Maria had nothing to bring.


F
She waited till just before 
midnight,
   C
So no one would see her go in.
    F
And crying she knelt by the manger,
        C
For her gift was unworthy of him.


       D
Then a voice spoke to her through 
the darkness:
 D                        A
"Maria what brings you to me?
       A
If the bird in the cage is your 
offering,
     A7                   D
Then open the door let me see."


       D
So she trembled and did as he asked 
her
    D
And out of the cage the bird flew,
A
Soaring up into the rafters
     A7
On a wing that had healed good as 
new.


    G
And just as the midnight bells rang 
out,
    D
The little bird started to sing
  G
A song that no words could 
recapture,
         D
For it's beauty was fit for a king.


    D
Now Maria felt blessed just to 
listen
       D
To the cascade of notes sweet and 
long
       A
As her offering was lifted to 
heaven,
       A7
By the very first nightingale's 
song.