A hunter once walked to the jungle. He was hunting for pretty birds to capture.
After trying very hard for many hours, he was getting exhausted and discouraged, as all his attempts to cage a bird or two had been in vain.
The disheartened hunter sat under a tree to rest for a little while before he could return home.
Just then, he saw two colourful parrots quarrelling over a mango on a tree branch. Both parrots wanted the mango in full; neither was ready to share the fruit.
The hunter smelled an opportunity.
He took out his net and cast it over the birds, who were too busy fighting to notice the trouble around.
And in no time, they were inside the hunter’s cage, their mango lying on the ground.
The hunter carried them away, thinking his hard work paid off at last.
“See what I got. We will sell these birds in the market. They shall fetch us a good sum,” the hunter told his wife at home.
Happy with his catch, the wife made soup for her husband.
“Shall we feed the birds as well?” she asked.
“Just give them a piece of bread. They are not going to eat it anyway. I captured them while they fought over a mango,” replied the hunter.
The wife put a piece of bread inside the cage.
In an attempt to grab the slice, the parrots ended up grasping one end each in their beaks.
Facing each other with the bread slice between them, they got reminded of how their fight earlier had landed them in trouble.
They both released their grip on the bread, which fell down.
“You have it,” said one parrot.
“No, you have it,” said the other.
The parrots eventually decided to share the bread.
The hunter was watching their new-grown compassion.
He took the cage outside. The birds felt they were being taken to the market for sale.
But the hunter opened the cage and set the parrots free.
