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| Sunday, 2 January 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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The sparrow and the elephant by Sunanda Mahendra In a certain forest there lived two sparrows, a he-sparrow and a she-sparrow. As time passed by, they built a small nest on one of the branches of a spreading tree, which gave shelter to many an animal in the forest.
In this forest there lived a giant of an elephant, who was also drought ridden and thirsty. The elephant came in search of shelter, as the open spaces in the forest were not too conducive for his living condition. So by and by, the elephant came closer to the spreading tree on which the sparrows lived with their eggs in the nest. The elephant wanted to eat the leaves of the branch that was spreading and even having seen the nest, he was carelessly broke the branch of the tree rolling through his trunk. As the sparrow's nest dropped down from the branch it was crushed to the great dismay of the two sparrows, who were expecting their little ones to see the world. The she-sparrow, whose eyes welled with tears cried and chirped to the extent she had never done so far. The carefree elephant though he heard what she said, was a stubborn selfish creature. "I am the King of this region and I can afford to do anything I want," he yelled and went away. The woodpecker, who lived on a nearby tree heard the wailing and weeping of the mother sparrow. "Don't cry, my dear sparrow. We should find a solution to this situation," the woodpecker told the she-sparrow. "What is the solution to get rid of this nasty elephant?," asked the she-sparrow. "I will let you know by and by and in the first instance, I will tell this to the gnat family." "How are they going to be a help to us?," asked the sparrow. "They can bring trouble to the elephant by making their murmuring sounds near the big ear-lobes of the elephant." "Yes I know they are small as insects but can cause immense problems." "Once the gnats make their sounds, the elephant will close his eyes, then if you want you can peck his eyes and make him blind". "I am not too sure whether that is going to be a good solution to get rid of the elephant". "Whatever it is let's try it out and see for ourselves, as we must make this great big elephant feel that even the small creatures have the right to live in this vast forest". Then both of them went to the gnat family and requested them to make a noise near the ear of the elephant. Now it was a known fact that if an irritating noise is made near the ear of the elephant he gets so irritated that he would run to get rid of it. So the gnat family, with their father gnat began to play an irritating sound making the elephant feel uneasy. So the gnat family went like an army carrying mini violins instead of weapons and rested closer to the elephant's ear. The elephant was trying his best to get rid of the gnats. But they swarmed round the elephant and made a symphony of murmuring sounds that made the elephant feel ill-at ease. "What the hell are you doing near my ear?. Don't you know that I am the King of the forest?," asked the elephant in a mad frenzy. "You may be the King of the forest. But you have no right to crush my eggs and kill my little ones," said the she-sparrow, who perched on a branch nearby. "I can do anything I want as long as I live in this forest", said the elephant swapping his earlobes in anger. "Why don't you apologise to the sparrow family for your misdeed?," asked the woodpecker. "Why should I do that? I am the king of the forest." "But the good Kings never bring about disaster to small beings." "Let them do anything to me, I am not going to apologise." They found that the elephant was not only selfish but also proud. The gnat family went on playing their irritating sound closer to the ear of the elephant. "Leave me alone," cried the elephant. But the gnat family went on irritating the elephant. Once when the elephant closed his eyes to avoid the irritation the woodpecker rushed to the place from where he stood and pecked the eyes of the elephant making him run amock. The small animals of the forest were watching the scene from their respective places. The frogs in the marshy lands of the forest croacked to tell the others that it was a severe drought and there was just a little water left around them. The elephant, who was walking in pain in his eyes came to the marshy land and gradually walked on and on until he got drowned. Nobody came to help him, as he was proud and arrogant. "Help me, help me I am your king. I can't see anything around me," cried the elephant in agony. "Not even a fellow-elephant will come to help him," said the sage, who lived in that forest and declared, "This is what you call tit for tat, but mind you this is retribution for arrogance and selfish behaviour." |
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The she-sparrow eventually laid two eggs and was expecting the little
ones to come out soon. But there was an unexpected drought that dried off
the forest environment. Quite a number of animals came close to the tree
and went further up to the nearby stream to drink water.
