The wise bird

Once upon a time, there was a wise man. On his way home one day, he met a market vendor who was carrying a beautiful bird. He bought the bird and thought to himself, 'When I get home I'm going to enjoy eating this wonderful bird. Suddenly the bird said, 'You shouldn't think like that!' The man was startled and asked, 'You mean you can talk?' The bird answered, 'Yes, I can talk. I'm not an ordinary bird. I'm a very rare and wise bird and can give you three nuggets of wisdom. Wisdom that people can really benefit from. I will tell them to you if you promise to release me right away afterwards so that I can enjoy my freedom again.' The man considered it. After all, the bird could talk so he must also be wise. If he were to eat the bird up, he wouldn't receive those three nuggets of wisdom. 'Okay',the man said, 'I've got other things to eat at home and it's not every day that you are given three nuggets of wisdom. I will release you but quickly tell me those three pieces of wisdom first and then I'll let you go.' The bird said, 'If someone tells you an absurd story which cannot possibly be true, then don't believe it, even if it comes from the highest minister, the king himself, or the most renowned scientist or philosopher. Don't believe it.' 'Okay', the man said. 'That's a useful piece of advice.'  

The bird continued. 'The second piece of wisdom is as follows: Wise is the person who knows his limitations. Foolish is the person who doesn't know his limitations. If you try and do something, never try to do the impossible. Know your limitations. Things always go wrong for people who don't know heir own limitations.' The man nodded and said, 'That's another wonderful piece of advice.' 'And now for my third piece of wisdom', said the bird. 'If you do something nice, never regret it afterwards. If you do something horrible, you can regret it, but not if you do something nice!' 
'Those are three fine nuggets of wisdom', said the man and he kept his promise to release the bird. With a deep sense of satisfaction, the man continued his journey home and thought to himself, The bird gave me three great pieces of wisdom. When I get home, I'll write them down so that I can study them and then later write a book about them. 

Suddenly he saw the bird again, sitting on a branch just in front of him. The bird began to laugh loudly, so the man asked him what the matter was. 'Why are you laughing like that?' The bird answered, 'Hahaha, you really are stupid! I've got a very big diamond in my belly and if you had eaten me, you would have become the richest man in the country. Hahaha, you are so stupid!' The man dearly regretted what he had done and thought, 'That was really stupid of me. I believed the bird! What haveI done? He then became very angry with the bird who wouldn't stop laughing. Raging with fury, he climbed up the tree in order to grab the bird. But the bird kept on moving a branch higher each time,until he was right at the top of the tree. The man took an almighty leap to grab hold of the bird but because the bird flew up into the air, the man missed and fell to the ground. The man landed with a hard bump and his whole body was sore. The man lay on the ground bleeding, covered in bumps and scratches and with his clothing torn to shreds. The bird fluttered down to the lowest branch of the tree, right next to the man, and started laughing loudly once more. 'Hahaha, you are so stupid! Hahaha, you are so stupid! 

 I've just given you three pieces of wisdom. You've only walked for another couple of hundred of metres and you've already forgotten them. It's because you're so greedy! Do you really believe I've got such a big diamond in my belly? The first piece of wisdom I gave you was: Never believe anyone (especially a talking bird) who tells you a story that's too good to be true. You then tried to catch a bird with your bare hands! People can't do that you idiot! Surely you must know that? Birds have Wings and people can't fly. 'Know your limitations' was the second piece of wisdom I gave you. Hahaha, you really are stupid! And do you remember what the third nugget of wisdom was?' The man stammered: 'If you do something nice, never regret it afterwards.' 'Well done!', said the bird. 'But what did you do? You regretted letting me go, got very angry and took leave of your senses. Go home and think very carefully about these three pieces of wisdom and your own stubbornness. And become a wise man by writing a book about it.' 

* Food for thought 

Tales of wisdom are only useful if you also apply them to your own life.