Things went along quietly in the forest. The trees where the birds lived provided plenty of food. The cool waters of the river which flowed through the forest provided for drink.
One day, the birds had an idea. Life was good but it was boring. The birds had everything they wanted but were still dissatisfied. They thought, “Maybe we should have a king over us. He will guide us and make us do something. He may have ideas on how to improve things in the forest and make life more interesting”.
The parrot was the first to have this idea. He was very talkative. He soon met all other birds and the idea spread through the forest. Some birds felt that a king was unnecessary. But many agreed with the parrot.
Now that everyone agreed that the birds needed a king, the next step was to find a suitable person who would serve as the king. After thinking for a long time, the birds finally decided on the owl.
The Owl was very happy. “We must have a grand coronation for our king”, the peacock said, “All the other animals of the forest should envy us and respect us even more”. The other birds agreed.
They set about making the arrangements for the big day. The birds chose a dry lake bed in the middle of the forest as the venue where they would crown the new king.
The birds flew far and wide across the forest and collected the choicest flowers to decorate the venue. The parrot brought the most tasty fruits from the trees. The peacock decorated the throne of the new king with his own feathers. Every bird contributed in its own way.
A crow was passing by the forest. He was curious to know the reason for this hectic activity. He asked a few birds about this. “We are going to have a new king”, the birds said. “Who is the king?”, the crow asked. “He is an owl.”, they replied.
The crow was amused. “How could anyone have an owl as a king?”, he thought.
The crow had come in search of food. He lived in a village nearby. He was a very inquisitive bird. Nothing gave him more pleasure than interfering in the affairs of others.
He flew over the venue of the proposed coronation. A peacock was busy readying the throne for the
The crow went to the peacock and said, ”I know that you are having a coronation”. The peacock nodded with pride. The crow continued, “I fail to understand as to how an owl can become the king of the birds”. The peacock looked, shocked at the crow’s arrogance. He gave an angry look.
The crow then said, “You are such a beautiful bird. How can a bird as ugly as an owl be your king”.
The peacock thought for a while. There appeared to be reason in what the crow said. “Why did I not think of this earlier?”, he said to himself. He stopped working.
The crow flew away and met the parrot who was busy collecting fruits to serve the guests on the big day.
“You are such a sweet bird. You can even talk.”, he told the parrot. “How can a bird who can just make hooting noises be king over you.”, he said to the parrot. The parrot too felt like the peacock. He felt that he had been misguided.
The crow flew around the forest and met the other birds and told them the same thing. Soon, all the birds felt that they had made a wrong decision. The owl was in no way better than they.
Gradually, all the arrangements for the coronation of the owl came to a halt.
The owl meanwhile was getting ready for the big day. When he heard of the cancellation of the coronation, he was furious and disappointed. He sent other owls, who were his friends, in search of the crow. The owls found the crow talking to a partridge. He was again explaining why the owl would be a bad king.
The angry owls fell upon the crow and attacked him. The crow was lucky to have escaped. He was severely injured. He flew away to the village he came from. He never dared come near the forest again.
Children, this story teaches us not to be intrusive and needlessly interfere in others’ business. We should give our opinion and advice only if someone asks for it.