One merchant had a bird languishing in captivity. One day a merchant was going to India, her homeland. She asked him to tell the free birds about her.
The merchant honestly told some wild bird about his captive. She fell to the ground dead. The merchant decided that this was his favorite friend, and was very upset.
He returned home and the bird asked what news he had brought.
- Alas! I told one of your friends about you, and she immediately died of grief.
As soon as he said this, the bird fell lifeless to the bottom of the cage.
“The news of her friend’s death killed her,” thought the saddened merchant.
He took the bird out of the cage and put it on the windowsill. The bird immediately flew out the window. She sat down on a tree branch in front of the window and sang to the merchant:
- Stupid! This was advice on what to do to get out; this message was conveyed to me through you, my tormentor.
And the bird flew away, free at last!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru