Owl And Chatty Crow貓頭鷹與多嘴烏鴉

 |2020.02.02
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提 要

管不住自己舌頭的人,不僅容易說話傷人,而且會惹禍,不該開口的時候、不該說的話,就別說;當勸告別人、提出建議時,若不顧及別人的自尊、不識時務,就算沒有惡意,也是徒勞。

A long time ago, all the birds, Peacocks, Eagles, Swans, Parrots, Cranes called a convention to discuss an important issue. However, no crow came to attend the meeting. Therefore, they commenced the meeting without a crew member.

"Though Garuda is the King of us, he has no concern for any of us. He is always busy with his family. We don't need a king like Garuda, who is a nominal king and not interested in protecting his community," they said.

They decide to elect a new king among themselves. Consequently, they started looking at each other. Deciding which bird would be more suited to be the next king. All of a sudden, the features of owl started drawing the most attention from all birds. He looked different from others. He looked powerful and had sharp features. Most of all, he had very keen eyesight, he could see in the night, when most birds were vulnerable to danger.

After much debate, it was decided that the owl would be crowned as the new mighty king of the birds. Therefore, they start preparing for rituals of enthronement and a well-decorated throne. The pretty birds beat the drums and blew conches in happiness. A map of all continents and countries came for the coronation of the owl.

The owl and his wife were given a guard of honor on their way to the throne. A crow showed up at the same moment; He asked birds, "What's going on? Why have all the birds gathered, why this decoration, chanting and trumpeting? Is it someone's birthday or someone's marriage?" The crow nagged a bunch of questions.

Undeniably, the crow was famous for his intelligence; the birds described him the entire matter and asked for his viewpoint.

The crow started laughing uncontrollably.

Finally, the crow stopped laughing and explained his point of view. "Do we need an ugly, fierce king? Aren't we birds known for our beauty and colors? We have many pretty birds like peacock, swans, pigeons, and so on. But the owl doesn't deserve to be our king, he is blind in daylight.

We have a king like Garuda, whose name is enough for our enemies. Look at him; he looks cruel from his twisted nose and squinty eyes. Imagine how he would look if he were to get angry! In my opinion, the owl isn't the appropriate choice to be our king."

The birds found the crow's argument correct and reviewed their decision again on electing owl as their king. They called-off owl's coronation.

One-after the other, birds flew away, only the crow was still there, sat on the tree. The owl watched all this in bewilderment. He couldn't understand what this hue and cry were all about. He was anxiously waiting to be crowned as the new king.

He asked his wife, "What's going on? When will the enthronement begin?"

"I think your coronation is undermined by the crow. He cleverly manipulated the birds in changing their decision. He stayed here to embarrass you," said Mrs. Owl.

The owl got depressed and angry. He yelled at the crow. "Why did you do this to me? You are a black-hearted bird like your color! I break all of my friendly ties from you. From today onwards, you and I will share only one kind of relation i.e. enmity."

The owl and his wife too left the venue. The only crow was left alone for contemplating: What did he just do? Why did he put his opinion forward for no reason? Even when the birds didn't seek his advice?

Nevertheless, since then, the crow and owl have been enemies of each other.

解 說

很久以前,所有的孔雀、 鷹、 天鵝、 鸚鵡、 鶴和其他鳥類都參加了會議,一個解決重要問題的會議;但是,沒有烏鴉出席。於是牠們在缺了一員的情況下開始討論。

「儘管神鳥迦樓羅是我們的王,但是牠不關心我們任何一個。牠總是和家人在一起,我們不需要像這樣的一位『名義上的』王,牠對保護自己的族群完全沒興趣。」牠們說。

鳥兒決定選出一位新王,因此,牠們開始彼此互看,藉以決定哪隻鳥更適合成為下一任國王。突然間,貓頭鷹的特徵開始引起注意:牠看上去與眾不同;牠看起來很有力量,而且特徵鮮明。最重要的是,牠的視力非常敏銳,在大多數鳥類都容易遭受危險的夜晚,也看得到。

經過一番討論,鳥群決定替新鳥王貓頭鷹加冕。於是牠們開始準備登基儀式與裝飾精美的皇家寶座,漂亮的鳥擊鼓、 吹響幸福的海螺。加冕典禮上,還獻上一張各大洲、所有國家的地圖。

貓頭鷹和牠的夫人在儀仗隊簇擁下,走在登基的路上。一隻烏鴉在此時突然出現,牠問其他同類:「這是怎麼回事?為什麼所有的鳥類都聚集在一起,為什麼要裝飾,歡呼還吹喇叭?是某人過生日還是要娶媳婦兒?」烏鴉嘮叨地問了一堆問題。

不可否認,烏鴉以牠的才智聞名。鳥兒們向牠描述了整件事的始末,並問牠的看法。

烏鴉開始失控地大笑。

烏鴉終於停止了笑,並解釋自己的觀點:「我們需要一個又醜又兇的王嗎?我們鳥類不是以美麗和多彩著稱嗎?我們有這多漂亮的鳥類,像孔雀、 天鵝、 鴿子等。但是貓頭鷹不應該成為我們的國王,牠在白天是看不見的。」

「我們有像神鳥迦樓羅這樣的國王,光憑這個名字就足以對付敵人。看看牠,那鷹勾鼻和鳳眼看起來多酷。想像一下,如果牠生起氣來會怎樣?我認為,貓頭鷹不是我們適當的國王。」

所有的鳥類都同意烏鴉的論點,再次檢討牠們對選貓頭鷹為國王的決定後,取消了加冕典禮。

鳥一隻接一隻地飛走了,只有烏鴉還留在樹上。貓頭鷹困惑地看著這一切。牠無法理解這種躁動是怎麼發生的,仍焦急地等待被加冕為新國王。

牠問牠的妻子:「怎麼了?登基何時開始?」

「我認為加冕禮被烏鴉破壞了。牠巧舌如簧地鼓動了鳥群改變決定,牠還待在這裡讓你難堪。」貓頭鷹夫人說。

沮喪又憤怒的貓頭鷹對烏鴉大吼:「你為什麼這樣對我?你是一隻心像毛色一樣黑的鳥。從今天開始,你我將只存在一種關係,也就是『敵人』 。」

貓頭鷹和妻子離開了。留下烏鴉獨自思考:牠剛剛做了什麼?牠為什麼無緣無故地出主意?即使鳥兒根本沒問?

然而,從那時起,烏鴉和貓頭鷹一直是彼此敵視。

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