In one village a very rich man died. None of his relatives came to mourn his death. One sparrow cried, and a parrot in its beautiful plumage flew from the thickets to take part in the funeral.
After the funeral, the question arose as to who should inherit the property of the deceased. Here many people came running from different places, and everyone began to prove their rights to the inheritance. But the leader and his advisers quickly besieged them.
- How do you have the conscience to come for the property of the deceased! - they said. “None of you came to mourn his death.” You didn't even know about his illness. What kind of relatives are you if you didn’t care about him before, and now, like a pack of predators, you pounce on his inheritance?! You have no right to demand anything. Head back!
And everyone left, ashamed and angry. Only the sparrow and the parrot remained. They presented their rights to the inheritance to the council.
Sparrow said:
“All my life the man and I lived side by side. Where he goes, I go too. He will move to another place - and I am flying after him. My song woke him up in the morning, showed him the way when he returned from afar, encouraged him in moments of sadness. I was his comrade in the field and on the river, I helped him in his work. Often I ate his food and drank water from his well. He gave me all this selflessly, and in return I tried to bring him joy. When he died, my grief was genuine, and I alone mourned him until the parrot arrived.
The council listened to the sparrow and recognized his arguments as very solid. Then they turned to the parrot and asked him what rights he could claim to the inheritance of the deceased person.
The parrot said:
“I have the right to consider myself his heir, for this man owed the beginning of all his wealth to me.” One day he saw the beautiful feathers in my tail. He liked them and took me from my tree and made me live with him. He plucked my feathers, decorated his cloak with them, and then sold it. The money received from the sale allowed him to give a sufficient ransom for a good wife. His wife bore him several daughters, whom he married off, receiving a rich ransom for each. The daughters in turn gave birth to children, all of whom added to the man's wealth. But didn’t I help him get a wife, wasn’t it thanks to me that he laid the foundation of all his wealth? I did not live my whole life with him, but in order to take advantage of my feathers, he deprived me of my home, he carried me away from the tree. Don't I have the right to demand compensation for this? I, and no one else, must now be considered this man's heir.
The council discussed the parrot's arguments for a long time and found that they were also justified.
“Sparrow has the right to demand the inheritance, because he and the deceased lived in perfect harmony and loved each other,” the advisers reasoned. - The parrot cannot say this to himself, but he laid the foundation for all the wealth of the deceased. Both of them have the right to inheritance in their own way. But which of them is more right?
We thought and thought and could not come to any decision.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru