The Beauty Of Life

Once upon a time in a city, there lived a crow in a tree which was also home to a pair of squirrels. The tree was on the edge of the town in a garden of a rich woman. Every morning the crow used to shout in his annoying voice which made the woman lose her temper and she tried to chase the crow away. The two squirrels were living a very good life. The woman used to feed them daily in the morning when she used to have her breakfast in the garden. As she comes in the garden to have her breakfast the squirrels used to come down from the tree and go near the woman’s garden table where they were fed by the woman. The crow tried to have at least something to eat from the woman but the woman always flew the crow away.

The crow was very sad and was unable to understand that why the woman feeds squirrels and not him. He was unable to understand the reason of this partiality. So he went to his friend Owl in the forest to get the answers to his questions. Owl was considered to be an intellect, so the crow was sure to get the answer and then he too can be fed by the woman.

The wise owl replied that the squirrels are very hardworking and they store food for their future and bad times. And at last, he added that as the squirrels are beautiful and small in size they are loved by the woman. The owl told crow that the woman doesn’t love her color and voice, so she doesn’t feed him. The crow was sad after he listens to these words as he neither was able to change the color of his feathers nor his coarse and irritating voice. So he thought that it is better to move to some other place, He went to the tree and told his decision of moving away to his cute friend's squirrels and this friend gave him a farewell treat.

The crow was thinking that the birds which have colorful feathers must have been living a very luxurious life. So he thought to find some of them and if possible exchange some of his feathers with them. He started to move from place to place in search of food, water, and colorful birds and also the singing birds. Once he was flying near a lake he saw a very beautiful and spotless white group of swans which were swimming in the lake. He was delighted with the scene and felt that if he could also swim like them. Suddenly there was chaos in the swans. He saw that they were shouting in pain as a crocodile of the lake has attacked one of them and the other swans are unable to rescue him. With this sad view, he saw the cruelty of the beautiful lake which seemed to be so quite has a hidden death. He felt sorry for the swans and thanked God for not making him a swan.

Then he left the place and went to the forest where very beautiful and colorful love birds lived. They were not large in size but their beauty was incomparable. He was wondering the greatness of the Creator and thought if he was so beautiful and colorful he might have been fed by the woman in the garden. He saw some fear in their eyes as the sun was setting. This fear was unknown to the crow. All the creatures in the forest were asleep except those who hunt at night. He saw some of the birds missing as they were stuffed in someone’s tummy. All the birds despite their beauty have to search for food and water which was not matching with the thought of the crow. When the birds went to search for food, the crow also followed them. The birds went to a field where a bird hunter had set up a net to catch these colorful birds. Some of the birds were victims of the nets and were caught by the hunter. Crow asked one of the love birds that what humans do with them. The love bird replied that humans peel off their colorful feathers and use them in their hats, clothes, etc, and eat us or leave us to die. The crow felt the cruelty of the humans and was angry with humans and wanted to stop them but he was helpless. Then he felt that it was good for him to have only black feathers and not the colored ones. He thanked God for the black colored feathers he had.

The last thing which came to crow’s mind was his hoarse voice. He had an old nightingale as his friend. He knew her nest so that he could learn to sing. So he went to the nest but was unable to find the nightingale. So he asked the owl which lived on the same tree that where was the nightingale which sang so beautifully that all creatures used to applaud her. The old owl replied that humans have caught her and kept her in a cage to listen to her beautiful songs. The crow was very distressed with these kinds of human behavior but he was thankful to God to give him a coarse voice. And now he was fully satisfied with his physical appearance and his color and voice. He decided to return to the squirrels and his old home.

The crow was really happy now and promised himself to work hard and find his food himself and not depend on others. The next morning he reached his old home, the tree where he used to live with the squirrels but was unable to find his two little friends. He asked the sparrow in the garden that where the squirrels did went. The sparrow replied that the husband of the woman gave poison to them and they died. Then he took their body and stuffed them and kept them in his room. The crow went to the window of the man’s room and saw his friends stuffed and were statues. He felt the cruelty of humans on animals and the selfishness of humans. He was now alone in the tree watching the woman in the garden but there were no squirrels.