Once There Was a Crow...

One of the baijis told this story recently: Once there was a crow who lived in the forest, foraging for food and living his life.

One day, he saw something remarkable: a beautiful white swan. He thought, “Surely this is the most beautiful bird I’ve ever seen.”

So when the crow expressed this, the swan replied, “There is a bird even more beautiful than me over there, who has two amazing colors – red and green. Surely this is the most beautiful bird in the world.” 

So the crow approached the parrot and expressed how beautiful it was, to which the parrot replied, “Over in the zoo is a much more beautiful bird with a multitude of colors. Surely the peacock is the most beautiful bird in the world.” 

The crow went to the zoo and found the peacock. 

Indeed, it was very, very beautiful. The crow declared as much, which only served to sadden the peacock.

“It’s true, I am the most beautiful of all the birds. But I am in a cage. People may not want to keep crows in the zoo to look at, but when I see you through the bars flying freely through the air, I think you are the luckiest of all.”  

Aside from the valuable moral that we all have something to be grateful for, I love this story because it's a bit unpredictable to American ears. We're more used to the Cinderella/The-Ugly-Duckling-is-really-a-beautiful-swan story, not one that says, "Yes, Virginia, some people look like movie stars and some people don't."

But it's okay, because I can fly.