The Happiest Bird

Art: Meressa Crasto, 12, Malaysia

There was once a happy crow.

One day, he saw a swan.

He thought to himself,

“The swan is so beautiful. It must be the happiest bird in the world.”

When he told this to the swan, the swan said,

“Yes, I felt like the happiest bird in the world till I saw a parrot. It has two colours and talks sweetly. It must be the happiest bird in the world.”

The crow went to a parrot, who said,

“I always thought I was the happiest bird in the world till I saw a peacock. He has several colours and walks proudly. He must be the happiest bird because many people come to see him.”

So the crow went to see a peacock in the zoo.

It was beautiful indeed. It walked like a king and had colourful long feathers which he spread out like a fan. People clapped and waved at him when he walked past them.

The crow said to him,

“O peacock, you are surely the happiest bird in the world. You are so beautiful.”

The peacock closed his fan of feathers and came near the crow.

He looked at the crow through the bars of his cage and said,

“What use is this beauty, my friend? It is because of this beauty that I am kept in a cage. I cannot fly wherever I want like you do. I have seen that a crow is never kept in a zoo. You must be the happiest bird in the world.”

(Retold)