Long ago, there lived a flock of pigeons in a dense forest. In the flock, there was an old pigeon who was very wise. All the pigeons respected and loved the wise pigeon. During the
daytime, the pigeons used to fly all over the jungle in search of food and water.
Every day, before the nightfall, they used to come back to their nest
One day, while searching for food, the pigeons saw rice grains spread on the ground. All the pigeons, at once, decided fly down and eat the rice grains.
But the wise pigeon did not think it was a good idea. He became suspicious that it could be a trap laid down by a bird catcher. “How could so much of rice be found in this thick forest”, he thought.
He tried to stop all the other pigeons from going down and eating the rice, but none of them listened as they were very hungry.
It was indeed a trap. A bird-catcher had laid the net to catch the pigeons. The pigeons flew down, sat on the net and began to eat the rice grains. Soon they found that they were unable to move as their feet got stuck in the net.
The wise pigeon did not come down and decided to sit on a branch of a nearby tree.
The bird catcher saw the pigeons trapped in the net. “Ah! So many pigeons. I will put them in cages and sell them in the market”, he chuckled and ran towards the pigeons trapped in his net
The wise pigeons saw the bird catcher coming towards the pigeons. The pigeons were desperately trying to free themselves from the net by pulling the net in their own direction. “What should we do now? No matter how hard we try, we are not able to get rid of this net”, they cried. “Please save us”, they begged to the wise pigeon.
“Stop pulling the net in your own direction. Instead, try to fly up together and carry the net with you”, he advised. All the pigeons did as told. They started flapping their wings together and in no time started flying with the net still stuck to their feet. The bird catcher saw this act of unity in disbelief.
The wise pigeon took the entire flock, along with the net, to the house of his friend – a mouse. He narrated the entire incident to the mouse and requested him to help. Even though the mouse did not have wings to fly, he had something that the pigeons needed right now – sharp teeth. He immediately set to work and cut the entire net, freeing all the pigeons.
The pigeons thanked the mouse for help. They also thanked the wise pigeon for saving their lives. The wise pigeon said, “Unity has great strength. As long as you stay united, no harm can come upon you. It was your act of unity that saved your lives today”.
Moral of the Story: Union is Strength
