Story of Heroism: THE CAGE BIRD'S ESCAPE
Once
upon a time, there was a bird in a cage who sang for her merchant owner. He
took delight in her song day and night, and was so fond of her that he served
her water in a golden dish. Before he left for a business trip, he asked the
bird if she had a wish: "I will go through the forest where you were born,
past the birds of your old neighborhood. What message should I take for
them?"
The
bird said, "Tell them I sit full of sorrow in a cage singing my captive song.
Day and night, my heart is full of grief. I hope it will not be long before I
see my friends again and fly freely through the trees. Bring me a message from
the lovely forest, that will set my heart at ease. Oh, I yearn for my Beloved,
to fly with Him, and spread my wings. Until then there is no joy for me, and I
am cut off from all of life's sweet things."
The
merchant travelled on his donkey through the dense forest. He listened to the
melodies of many birds. When the merchant reached the forest where his bird
came from, he stopped, pushed his hood back, and said, "O you birds!
Greetings to you all from my pretty bird locked in her cage. She sends tidings
of her love to you and wants to tell of her plight. She asks for a reply that
will ease her heart.
My
love for her keeps her captive with bars all around her. She wants to join her
Beloved and sing her songs through the air with a free heart, but I would miss
her beautiful songs and cannot let her go."
All
the birds listened to the merchant's words. Suddenly one bird shrieked and fell
from a tree brunch to the ground. The merchant froze to the spot where he
stood. Nothing could astound him more than this did. One bird had fallen down
dead!
The
merchant continued on to the city and traded his goods. At last he returned to
his home. He did not know what to tell his bird when she asked what message he
had brought. He stood before her cage and said, "Oh, nothing to speak of
"no, no,"
The
bird cried, "I must know at once"
I
do not know what happened," said the merchant. "I told them your
message. Then, one of them fell down dead."
Suddenly
the merchant's bird let out a terrible shriek and fell on her head to the
bottom of the cage.
The
merchant was horrified. He wept in despair, "Oh, what have I done?" He
cried, "What Have I done? Now my life means nothing. My moon has gone and
so has my sun. Now my own bird is dead."
He
opened the cage door, reached in, and took her into his hands gently and
carefully. "I will have to bury her now," he said; "poor thing
is dead."
Suddenly,
the moment he had lifted the bird out of the cage, she swooped up, flew out of
the window and landed on the nearest roof slope. She turned to him and said,
gratefully, "Thank you, merchant master, for delivering my message. That
bird's reply instructed me how to win my freedom. All I had to do was to be
dead. I gained my freedom when I chose to die."
"So
now I fly to my Beloved who waits for me. Good-bye, good-bye, my master no
longer." "My bird was wise; she taught me secret," the merchant
reflected.
If
you want to be with the ones you love, you must be ready to give up everything,
even life itself. And then,you will win your heart's desire.
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