'Every individual born into this world has their unique, individual talents...'

The Tailorbird, the Squirrel & the Monkey!

 🐦🦨🐒

A Fable 💛

Today’s Tamil morninger from ‘The Hindu’, Thamizh Thisai, carries a [regular weekly] feature for kids titled, ‘Maya Bazaar,’ that’s replete with stories of valour, wisdom and morals.

Today’s issue sports one such lovely fable, written by Keerthi.

For a wider reach, me thought of attempting my own little translation of this lovely story from Tamil to English, for us all!

So yup! Here goes the beautiful little fable - 👇

Will there be room enough? 🐒

Mount Pothigai was ablaze with the intense heat of the summer.  

The leaves had withered from the trees, and there was heat and drought everywhere.

A monkey, not being able to withstand the sultry summer heat, was desperately searching for a place to hide itself.  

At this point of time, the monkey saw a tailorbird having perched itself on the lower branch of a tree, and chirping aloud. 🐦

Completely unmindful of the hot summer heat, the tailorbird was seen singing from its nest – a lovely nest that it had sewn together for itself with such beautiful leaves!

‘How on earth does the tailorbird sing so happily from off its nest, even while here am I, wandering all over the place in the sultry summer heat!’, wondered the monkey, with a tinge of longing and jealousy as well!

Saying thus, the monkey hastily climbed up the tree and, after chasing away the tailorbird, proceeded to pull down its beautiful nest as well!

Poor tailorbird!

Crying its frantic, ‘cheep, cheep, cheep…’ agitated calls, it flew away – far far away from the tree!

Perched on an adjacent tree was a little squirrel, 🦨 who was watching all the moves and manoeuvres of the monkey all along!

Said the squirrel to the monkey,

‘Hey monkey, why are you so jealous of the tailorbird? Of its own talent and hard work it had built such a beautiful nest for its own dwelling. Why on earth did you pull it down?’

‘Oh! So it’s you, squirrel?’ retorted the monkey, and added,

You too, [like the tailorbird] quite easily escape the sun’s heat, by safely hiding yourself in the hollows of trees, and that’s hence you point fingers at me, ain’t you? How can you ever understand my suffering! Just you wait and see, what I do with your home as well’, shouted the angry monkey!

Shouting thus, the monkey climbed up the squirrel’s beautiful little home in the hollow bark of the tree and quickly filled it up with all the filth, the garbage and the dust!

‘O monkey’, responded the squirrel, 

‘Even if you tend to damage our little homes, we can always find a place for ourselves to live elsewhere; but it’s only you, who will suffer, because of your jealous nature’, said the squirrel.

Saying thus, the squirrel hopped away quickly from across that place!

Days passed.

Summer season was now drawing to a close.

The rainy season had just begun!

The sky was filled with dark, rainy clouds.

The winds and the rains were beating down quite heavily!

The monkey that was earlier affected by the intense heat of the sun, was now getting affected by the continuous spell of rains.

It ran helter skelter not knowing where to get a shelter for itself.

Soon, tired and worn out, with water dripping all over its body, the monkey finally went and rested itself under a tree, wild with hunger, shivering with cold, and not getting anything to eat!

‘Hey monkey, how are you doing? Are you really shivering, or, are you dancing?’ came a voice from high above the tree!

The monkey looked up towards the direction from where the voice came from.

It was the same squirrel, peeping out from the hollow bark of the tree!

‘O squirrel, I’m here shivering with hunger and cold, but you seem to be mocking at me, without having the least sympathy for my condition’, said the monkey, in its wretched state!

Looking at the sad plight of the monkey, the squirrel developed a great sympathy for the monkey.

It quickly forgave all the former hurt that the monkey had done unto its home, and said unto the monkey,

‘First you have these and quench your hunger!’

and it gladly offered the monkey all the fruits and the nuts that it had so far saved in its little home - in the hollow barks of the tree!

The monkey ate up all the food quite joyously.

Soon, it had gained some little strength after having the food.

Now, the squirrel said,

‘O monkey, do you remember the tailorbird whose nest you tore down the other day? That selfsame tailorbird also lives quite close by; it had soon woven yet another beautiful nest for itself. I shall go ahead and request the tailorbird to build a nest for you as well. Until the time of the rainy season is over, you may live there sheltered and protected’,

said the squirrel.

With a sense of wistful, regretful longing the monkey asked back,

‘O squirrel, back then I had cruelly torn down the nest of the tailorbird. Do you mean to say that it will build me a nest now?’

‘I shall take care of it. Now, you come along with me’,

said the squirrel, and then, taking the monkey along to the tailorbird, it apprised the tailorbird of the monkey’s pathetic situation.

The tailorbird, on hearing the monkey’s plight, felt very sympathetic and said,

‘Well, you see, I cannot build you a very protective home the way humans do. But up there in that tall teak tree, there are huge, beautiful leaves. I can try and weave them all together and build a beautiful home for you’,

assured the tailorbird to the monkey.

And soon enough, with its sharp beak, the tailorbird quickly swung into action, and after gathering together coir of all hues from all around the place, it wove together quite a beautiful nest for the monkey, a nest made entirely of teak leaves.

‘Although I did evil to the two of you, you did not bear the grudge against me anytime. Instead, you both have come all the way and helped me. I have learnt this good quality from you both. For the love that you both have showered on me, and for the hard work of the tailorbird in weaving a beautiful home for me, I shall - for the time being - stay in this cozy home! Soon, I shall find for myself a beautiful hollow of a tree for my shelter’,

said the monkey.

‘O dear monkey’,

replied the squirrel,

‘Every individual born into this world has their unique, individual talents. Per chance, some may have some additional talents. To be jealous or spiteful of them proves to be of no use in any way! It will only result in begetting hatred and enmity in our minds. On the contrary, if we make them our friends, we can all together live happily!’ 💛

The monkey nodded back in cheerful agreement! 😍

[Along with me and we, as well, ain’t it!] 🤗🤗🤗