Once upon a time, all the birds, the swans, the parrots, cranes, cuckoos, nightingales, owls, peacocks, doves, partridges and the rest of them, had a meeting. They began to hold a discussion with great vehemence.

‘Garuda, the king of the birds, is our king, ‘they said, ‘but he is so busy serving his master that he doesn’t bother about us.

What is the point of having a master who is just a namesake! He never helps us out of the traps set by hunters.”

‘And so’, continued the birds, ‘let us consider the matter carefully and elect a new king!’

‘Now when the birds looked round at one another, they noticed that the Owl had very impressive features and everyone said, ‘The owl shall be our king.

Bring the things that are necessary for the coronation!’

“And so, the birds collected water from the holy rivers and also a hundred and eight different holy roots.

The throne was decorated lavishly and a tiger skin was spread over the ground in front of it. They drew a map of all the continents and the oceans. They beat the drums and blew the conches. The Brahmins began to recite from the holy books and beautiful maidens sang songs of joy. But just as the owl was being led to the throne to be crowned, a crow arrived on the scene and demanded, ‘What is the meaning of this great gathering of birds?'”

When the birds saw the crow, they said to one another, ‘Let’s have his opinion too for he is reputed to be very smart.’

‘Birds’, repeated the crow,’ why this meeting and why this celebration?

‘Friend, replied the birds, ‘ our king Garuda has no time for us and so we have decided to crown this owl as our king.

You have come just in time to give us your opinion too’.

‘Well’, replied the crow with a smile, ‘my advice is against crowning the owl as our king.

Why choose this ugly and blind-by-day owl, when we have amongst us the best of birds peacocks, swans, cuckoos, nightingales, pigeons, cranes, and so on. I certainly advice against it. His crooked nose and his squint eyes make him look cruel, even when he is not angry.

Whatever would he look like if he were really angry? What could we possibly gain by electing such an ugly and vicious looking leader?

And what is more, even if this owl has his qualities, it is not necessary to elect another king. We already have Garuda, the king of the birds, as our king, and just by mentioning his name, you can keep your enemies at bay. And so, if you want to stay alive, don’t elect such a sly and vicious king.’

When the birds heard the crow, they said to one another, ‘He is right. We’ll meet some other time and elect another king’. And then they all flew off, except the crow, the owl and the owl’s wife.

The owl was still waiting to be crowned king. He turned to his wife and said, ‘What is all this? Why hasn’t the ceremony to crown me begun yet?

‘This crow has put an obstacle in the way of your being crowned,’said his wife.

‘All the other birds have flown away, only this crow has stayed behind for some ulterior motive. And so we had better go home too.’

“When the owl heard this, he was disappointed and said to the crow, ‘Wicked crow! What harm have I done you, that you should put obstacles in the way of my being crowned king. From now on, there shall be enmity between you and me, and between your kind and my kind?

“With these words, the owl returned to his place, with his wife. “When they had gone, the crow thought to himself, ‘Why did I talk like that and pick up a quarrel with the owl? With this thought, the crow too went home.”

❖ Keep your counsel to yourself and thus stay away from trouble.

❖ Think twice before you do or say anything.