The Wise Quail

Once, the Buddha was a wise quail, the leader of a flock. One day, a hunter came into the forest. Imitating the quails' own calls, he began to trap unwary birds. The wise quail noticed that something was amiss. Calling his flock together, he announced, “My fellow quail, I am afraid that there is a hunter in our forest. Many of our brothers and sisters are missing. We must be alert. Danger is all around us. Still, if we work together we can stay free. Please listen to my plan. If you should hear a whistling call—twe whee! twe whee! twe wheel—as if a brother or sister were calling, be very watchful! If you follow that call, you may find darkness descending upon you.

"Your wings may be pinned so that you cannot fly, and the fear of death may grip your heart. If these things happen, just understand that you have been trapped by the hunter's net and do not give up! Remember, if you work together you can be free. Now, this is my plan. You must stick your heads out through webs of the net and, then, you must all flap your wings together. As a group, though you are still bound in the net, you will rise up into the air. Fly to a bush. Let the net drape on the branches of the bush so you can each drop to the ground, and fly away from under the net, this way and that, to freedom. Do you understand? Can you do this?”

“We do understand,” answered all the quail as one, “and we will do it! We will work together and be free.”

Hearing this, the wise quail was content. The very next day a group of quail were pecking on the ground when they heard a long whistling call. “Twe whee! twe whee! twe whee!” It was the cry of a quail in distress! Off they rushed. Suddenly darkness descended on them and their wings were pinned. They had indeed been trapped by the hunter's net. But, remembering the wise quail's words, they did not panic. Sticking their heads out through the webs of the net they flapped their wings together, harder and harder and slowly, slowly, with the net still draped upon them, they rose, as a group, through the air. They flew to a bush. They dropped down through the bush, leaving the net hung on the outer branches, then flew away, each in their own direction, this way and that, to freedom.

The plan had worked! They were safe! They had escaped from the jaws of death. And, oh, they were happy!

But the hunter was not happy. He could not understand how the quail had escaped him. And this happened not just once, but many times. At last, the hunter realized the truth. “Why,” he said, amazed, “those quail are cooperating! They are working together! But it can't last. They are only birds, featherbrains after all. Sooner or later they will argue. And when they do, I shall have them.” And so, he was patient.

Now, the wise quail had had the same thought. Sooner or later the birds of his flock would begin to argue, and when that happened they would be lost. So he decided to take them deeper into the forest, far from their present danger.

That very day something happened to confirm the wise quail's thought. A quail was pecking on the ground for seeds when another bird of the flock, descending rapidly, accidentally struck it with its wing-tip. “Hey! Watch it, stupid!” called the first quail, in anger.

“Stupid is it?” responded the newly-landed quail, flustered because he had been careless, “Why are you so high and mighty? You were too dumb to move out of my way! Yes, you were too dumb, you dumb cluck!”

“Dumb cluck is it?” cried the first quail, “Dumb cluck? Why, talking of dumb, it's clear that you can't even land without slapping someone in the face! If that isn't ‘dumb,’ I don't know what is! Who taught you to fly anyway—the naked-winged bats?”

“Bats is it?” yelled the second quail, enraged, “Bats? Why, I'll give you a bat, you feathered ninny!” And with a loud chirruping whistle he hurled himself straight at the other quail. Chasing furiously after one another, loudly hurling insults and threats back and forth, they flew, twisting and turning, between the great, silent trees of the grove. An argument had started and, as is the way of arguments, no end was in sight.

The wise quail was nearby and he heard it all. At once he knew that danger was again upon them. If they could not work together the hunter was sure to have them. So again he called his flock together and said, “My dear brother and sister quail. The hunter is here. Let us go elsewhere, deeper into the forest and there, in seclusion, discipline ourselves, practicing our skills in working together. In this way we shall become truly free from the danger.”

Many of the birds said, “Though we love our present home, we shall go with you, Wise Quail. The danger is great and we wish to find safety.”

But others said, “Why go from this pleasant spot? You yourself, Wise Quail, have taught us all we need to know in order to be free. We know what to do. We just have to stick our heads out, flap our wings together, and fly away. Any dumb cluck can do it! We're going to stay.”

So some of the birds flew off with the wise quail, while the others stayed. A few days later, while some of those who stayed were scratching around for their dinner, they heard a whistling call. “Twe whee! twe whee! twe whee!” They ran to answer the call when suddenly, darkness descended upon them. Fear gripped their hearts. They were trapped in the hunter's net! But, remembering the wise quail's teaching, they stuck their heads through the net, and one bird said, “On the count of three we all flap. Ready? One two, three…”

“Hey!” called another bird, “Who made you boss? Who said you could give the orders?”

“I'm the hardest worker and the strongest,” said the first bird. “When I flap my wings, the dust rises from the earth and whirls up in clouds. Without me you'd never get this net off the ground. So I give the orders, see?”

“No, I don't see!” shouted another bird. “What you've just described is nothing. Why, when I flap my wings, all the leaves move on the trees, the branches bend and even the trunks sway. That's how strong I am. So if anyone should be giving orders around here it's me!”

“No, me!” shouted a third bird.

“Me!” yelled a fourth.

“No! No! Listen to me!” screamed the first bird again above the rising din. “Flap Flap! Flap! I tell you. Flap your wings all together when I say ‘three!’” But no one flapped. They just argued and argued. And as they argued, the hunter came along and found them and their fate, alas, was not a happy one. But the quail who had gone off deeper into the safety of the great forest learned, under the wise quail's guidance, how to really cooperate. They practiced constantly, until they were, indeed, able to work together without anger or argument. Though the hunter tried many times to catch them he never could. And if he never caught them, why, they're still free today.

A Hispanic Fable

Once there lived a very poor woman who lived alone with her only child.

One day the son, who was only ten, decided to seek work. “Mother,” he said, “let me go out and look for work.”

His mother would not permit him to go because he was too young. But the boy insisted that he should go out and look for work to help support her. He bothered her so much that one day she finally relented. She prepared a packsack with provisions for her brave young son, gave him her blessing, and sent him on his way. The lad then loaded the provisions on his donkey and set out to look for work. He didn’t know which direction to take, so he wandered until he was far from home.

But the Virgin Mary, who was the boy’s patron saint, and the prayers of his mother guided him. On the road he traveled he met a woman dressed in a blue robe.

“Where are you going, my son?” asked the woman, who was in truth the Blessed Virgin.

“I am looking for work to support my mother.”

“You are a good son, but you must be very careful because there are many evil men on this road who may harm you,” she warned him.

“They can’t harm me,” the boy answered, “because I have nothing they can steal.”

The Virgin smiled. “Since you are determined to continue your journey, here, take these three apples. Whenever you meet someone who wants to travel with you, cut an apple in half, but always cut one half smaller than the other. Offer both halves to the person, and if he takes the bigger half then do not count that person as your friend. He is a bad person, and may harm you. But the person who takes the smaller half will be a good friend whom you can trust.”

The boy tucked the three apples in his coat pocket and continued on his way. That evening he met a man who asked him if they could travel together as companions and the boy agreed. When they stopped to rest that evening the boy cut one of the apples in half, remembering to leave one half smaller than the other. He offered them to the man. The man reached for the bigger half.

This is not a good companion, the boy thought. And he was right because it was the intention of the man to steal the donkey once the boy was asleep.

That night, although he was very tired, the boy didn’t sleep. When he was sure the man was asleep he got up very quietly, gathered his provisions and hurried to his donkey. He loaded his burro and fled.

When the thief got up to steal the burro he found both the boy and the donkey gone. The thief cursed his luck and wondered how the boy had known his intentions.

Later on his journey, the boy met another man. The man suggested to the boy that they could travel together since they were going in the same direction. The boy agreed. That evening he cut the second apple in half, again cutting one half smaller than the other. He offered them to the stranger and the man immediately took the biggest half. So the boy knew this was another sly man to beware of.

That night as soon as the man had fallen asleep the boy got up very quietly and carried his pack to where his burro was hobbled. He packed his provisions and was far away by the time the thief awakened to find himself alone with his evil intentions.

The very next day the boy met up with an old man.

“Where are you going, my son?” the old man asked.

“I am going to the city to look for work,” the boy replied.

“There are many thieves on this road. They might harm you.”

“They can’t harm me,” the boy answered, “because the prayers of my mother and the Blessed Virgin Mary protect me.”

“Very good, my son,” the old man nodded. “I am going in the same direction. Why don’t we travel together?”

The boy agreed and they continued together. That evening when they had arrived at a campsite, the boy cut his last apple in half, again leaving one half smaller than the other. He offered them to the old man, and the old man took the smaller piece.

And so the boy knew that he had met a good companion with whom he could travel. That night he slept soundly, confident that he had met a good friend. When he awoke the sun was already high in the sky. He rubbed his eyes and looked around, but the old man was gone. The boy leaped out of his bedroll and ran in search of his burro. But when he went down to the pasture he found them both. The old man had simply moved the burro to where there was better pasture. From that day on they traveled together and became good friends, and eventually the boy found work, and sent money to his mother.

This Is Good

An old story is told of a king in Africa who had a close friend with whom he grew up. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) and remarking, “This is good!”

One day the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off. Examining the situation the friend remarked as usual, “This is good!” To which the king replied, “No, this is NOT good!” and proceeded to send his friend to jail.

About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he should have known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him and took him to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake. As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone that was less than whole. So untying the king, they sent him on his way.

As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend. He went immediately to the jail to speak with his friend. “You were right,” he said, “it was good that my thumb was blown off.” And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened. “And so I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this.”

“No,” his friend replied, “This is good!” “What do you mean,’This is good’? How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?” “If I had NOT been in jail, I would have been with you.”