A long, long time ago there was a flock of birds in the jungle near a farm. They lived together in a big tree and had a lot of fun. This flock of birds usually flew to different places in groups. Sometimes they made a beautiful picture in the sky.
One day, a farmer went to the jungle to trap some animals for food. He saw a lot of the birds near that place, so he threw some corn on the ground and waited until the birds came to eat. Then he threw a net around the birds to trap them. When the birds were in the net, they were all afraid and wanted to get out of the net. Some birds in this net said, "Let's help each other to fly together and push this net up into the tree so we can get out of here." Everyone listened and counted, "One, two, three - everyone fly!" They all flew and pushed the net to the tree and flew out of the net.
After that, they sat in the tree and talked to each other. A black bird said, "Do you know why we did not get killed? Because of my idea! If you hadn't had me, you all would have died!! See how smart I was!!" A white bird said,"No! No! That was my idea, not yours!" Another said, "It wasn't either of your ideas; it was mine only." Another one said, "OK!, OK!, If you think you are very clever and have a lot of power, next time you do it. I will not do anything. We will see how clever you are!" All the birds were quarreling with each other. Everyone was upset, confused, and angry. They all ignored each other.Two days later, the farmer came to trap some birds again. This time he did the same thing as he had done before, and there were many birds in his net this time, too. Two or three of the birds said,"Hurry up! We have to get out of here. Everyone please fly together so we can get out of this net." But no one paid attention. They just wanted to do everything for themselves. A black bird said to the white bird, "You said that you had good power and good ideas. Now you should do it! Help everybody in here. I can't do anything because I am not good like you!!!" he ridiculed. Another said, "You said that you were very clever. Now show your intelligence to everyone." No one did anything. They just waited to see who would act. Finally, the farmer came to get the birds in the net. The flock didn't have any more time to escape. They all were good food for this farmer's family.
They died because they were arrogant. They were not united anymore. The same lesson is true for our lives. We must not let these two things come into our lives because they will kill us or at least cause bad relationships with each other.
By Nuanjan Vang
