Once
upon a time, a very long time ago, the four-footed animals made the lion their
king. There was a gigantic fish that roamed the oceans, and the fish made him
their king. The birds were attracted to beauty, so they chose the Golden Swan
as their king.
King
Golden Swan had a beautiful golden daughter. While she was still young, he granted
her one wish. She wished that, when she was old enough, she could pick her own
husband.
When
his daughter was old enough, King Golden Swan called all the birds living in the
vast Himalayan Mountains of central Asia to a gathering. The purpose was to find
a worthy husband for his golden daughter. Birds came from far away, even from
high Tibet. There were geese, swans, eagles, sparrows, humming birds, cuckoos,
owls and many other kinds of birds.
The
gathering was held on a high rock slab, in the beautiful green land of Nepal.
King Golden Swan told his lovely daughter to select whichever husband she wished.
She
looked over the many birds. Her eye was attracted by a shining emerald-green long-necked
peacock, with gorgeous flowing tail feathers. She told her father, "This
bird, the peacock, will be my husband."
Hearing
that he was the lucky one, all the other birds crowded around the peacock to congratulate
him. They said, "Even among so many beautiful birds, the golden swan princess
has chosen you. We congratulate you on your good fortune."
The
peacock became so puffed up with pride, that he began to show off his colorful
feathers in a fantastic strutting dance. He fanned out his spectacular tail feathers
and danced in a circle to show off his beautiful tail. Being so conceited, he
pointed his head at the sky and forgot all modesty, so that he also, showed his
most private parts for all to see!
The
other birds, especially the young ones, giggled. But King Golden Swan was not
amused. He was embarrassed to see his daughter's choice behave in this way. He
thought, "This peacock has no inner shame to give him proper modesty. Nor
does he have the outer fear to prevent indecent behavior. So why should my daughter
be shamed by such a mindless mate?"
Standing in the midst of the great assembly of birds, the king said, "Sir
peacock, your voice is sweet, your feathers are beautiful, your neck shines like
an emerald, and your tail is like a splendid fan. But you have danced here like
one who has no proper shame or fear. I will not permit my innocent daughter to
marry such an ignorant fool!"
Then
King Golden Swan married his golden daughter to a royal nephew. The silly strutting
peacock flew away, having lost a beautiful wife.
Moral:
If you let pride go to your head, you'll wind up acting like a fool.
(From" Buddhist Tales for Young and Old")
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Saturday, January 18, 2014
The Dancing Peacock
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