The Gift

C             C
A poor orphan girl named Maria
                          G
Was walking to market one day
    G
She stopped for a rest by the roadside
                                C
Where a bird with a broken wing lay
  C
A few moments passed till she saw it
                                    G
For it's feathers were covered with sand
    G
But soon clean and wrapped it was traveling
                               C
In the warmth of Maria's small hand

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


[Verse 2]
        C
Now the Christmas Eve service was coming
                                     G
And the church shone with tinsel and light
    G
And all of the townsfolk brought presents
                          C
To lay by the manger that night
           C
There were diamonds and incense and perfumes
                      G
In packages fit for a king
        G
But for one ragged bird in a small cage
                     C
Maria had nothing to bring

    F
She waited till just before midnight
      C         G          C
So no one could see her go in
    F
And crying she knelt by the manger
        C                    G
For her gift was unworthy of Him


[Verse 3]
       C
Then a voice spoke to her through the darkness
                          G
Maria, what brings you to me
       G
If the bird in the cage is your offering
                      C
Open the door, let me see
           C
Though she trembled, she did as he asked her
                             G
And out of the cage the bird flew
                 G
Soaring into the rafters
                                  C
On a wing that had healed good as new

F
Just then the midnight bells rang out
        C
And the little bird started to sing
  F
A song that no words could recapture
      C                    G
Whose beauty was fit for a King

    C
Now Maria felt blessed just to listen
                                   G
To that cascade of notes sweet and long
       G
As her offering was lifted to heaven
                                C
By the very first nightingale's song