One padishah kept a white falcon for hunting and loved it very much and took care of it. One day, a falcon flew away and landed on the roof of an old woman’s house. She immediately caught him and began to look at him. It seemed to her that the falcon’s beak was crooked, and she said:
- Ay, ay, poor thing! How will you peck grain with such a beak?
She took a suitable knife and trimmed the beak from above. I trimmed the bottom and top and admired my work:
- That’s good, now you can peck the grain.
Then the old woman looked at the falcon’s paws; they seemed very clawed to her.
- Oh, unfortunate one! - she said. “Couldn’t anyone in your life cut your nails?” And you can barely stand on your feet because of these huge claws.
And the old woman quickly cut off the falcon’s claws. She, poor thing, loved him in her own way and tried to rid him of all his shortcomings.
The padishah learned that the falcon had flown away and disappeared, and gave the order that whoever found the falcon would receive a generous reward. People began to look for the bird and found the falcon in the old woman’s house. Soon the padishah was given his favorite bird, told how much the old woman loved it, how she took care of it, and what situation the poor hunting falcon found itself in because of this.
The padishah looked at his falcon and was very sad, but did not say anything. He just ordered him to be released and announced that this could happen to anyone who falls into the hands of ignorant people.
Remember, friends: it is equally bad when an enemy cleverly sets up trouble for you and when a stupid friend decides to do a favor.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru