It so happened that in the city of Kentung, in the north of Burma, there was no ruler: the former prince died and did not leave an heir.
The city and the entire surrounding area were ruled by nobles and military leaders; Every day they quarreled among themselves, and there was no order in the country. It was hard for the residents, they began to grumble and look for a new prince.
And in those days there lived a shepherd in the south of Burma. He was young and poor, tending other people's cows, but he did not grieve.
Every day the shepherd brought simple food with him to the pasture in a bundle. He sits down to have a snack, and birds hover around him, asking to feed them. No matter how hungry the shepherd dined, he always shared his food with the birds: he himself would not start eating until he had crumbled it for each bird.
One day a parrot, a reasonable bird, flew in from the north and said that the inhabitants of the city of Kentung were looking for a new prince. The birds began to judge and arrange. Here the raven, the wise bird, says:
- Our shepherd is a good man. Let's make him a prince in Kentung. He will feed us and welcome us.
The birds agreed and sent the raven to the shepherd in the meadow.
Raven asks:
- Shepherd, shepherd, do you want to be a prince?
“Why,” the shepherd answered him, “I’m not against it.”
- Well, if so, weave a big basket. As soon as you weave, climb into it and make yourself comfortable. And we will take you to the city of Kentung.
This is what the wise raven said to the shepherd and flew away, and the young man began to weave a basket. He wove it, climbed into it, and lay down at the bottom. A flock of birds flew in, picked up the basket with the shepherd and flew to Kentung.
A parrot flies ahead and shows the way. The path is not close. They flew and flew, and then the city appeared in the distance. The parrot shouts to the shepherd:
“We’ll drop you straight into the prince’s palace.” When you start ruling, don’t forget your friends!
Before the parrot had time to finish speaking, the flock descended and threw the basket straight onto the prince’s throne - it turned out to be a shepherd under a huge golden canopy.
The royal retinue has come running, the courtiers see a man lying in a basket. Then everyone decided that this was the long-awaited prince: he had descended straight from heaven to the throne.
They immediately summoned all the inhabitants of Kentung and declared the shepherd a prince, and then held a feast in his honor.
No one remembers whether the shepherd ruled well or badly in Kentung. Everything went as before, people went about their business, and the prince was not bothered with requests.
At first the birds lived at ease. Every day, they treated them and fed them in plenty. But time passed, and the treat became more and more scarce. Apparently, the shepherd prince began to forget about his friends.
And then the day came when they didn’t feed the birds at all.
Some time passed, the flock of birds thinned out - some died of hunger, some flew away. The bird leaders became worried and decided: “The prince has forgotten about us. Let’s teach the ungrateful a lesson!”
They sent a cunning parrot to the shepherd.
- O glorious prince! - said the parrot. - It has reached your faithful servants that there is no king in the neighboring country. This country is large, the cities and villages are rich. We will take you to this country - you will become not a prince, but a sovereign!
The shepherd was delighted: why shouldn’t he really become a king? An enviable share: more wealth, more power, more fame - what is not life? To tell the truth, he became very greedy and hungry for fame, power and wealth.
The prince ordered to get a large basket in which he once flew to the city of Kentung, sat down in it and called the birds.
They joined together and lifted the basket into the sky. The birds flew south, to where the prince once grazed cows. They flew for a long time. And the shepherd kept dreaming of how the royal courtiers would greet him, how they would take him to a luxurious mansion, how they would seat him on an emerald throne under a golden canopy...
And then the birds threw the basket to the ground. The shepherd was hurt badly. And when he came to his senses and climbed out of the basket, he saw familiar places around - the cows that he had previously grazed were wandering around the meadow, only they now had a different shepherd.
He looked into the sky: his bird friends were flying away. He realized then that he was being punished for his greed and ingratitude. Got it, it's too late. There was nothing to do, he had to hire himself as a shepherd for a new shepherd. That's it!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru