Literal Comprehension
Once, the Buddha was born as a little parrot. He lived in a forest. One day a fire broke out in the forest. The forest was surrounded by smoke and flames. So the parrot ran to the river for safety. While he was flying to the river, he saw that many animals were trapped in the forest. So he had an idea to save the animal by carrying few drops of water in his feathers from the river and releasing them in the centre of the forest. Time and again, while flying from the river to the forest and from the forest to the river, his feathers were charred, his feet were scorched, his lungs ached and his eyes became red. On the other hand, Gods were watching his activity and laughing. One of the Gods, being worried, changed himself in the form of a golden eagle and advised the parrot to save his life. But the parrot said that he needed help. Then the God was ashamed of and began to help by pouring tears from his eye. The flames died down and the smoke began to clear. Miraculously, where those tears glistened, new life appeared. All animals were safe. Nothing had been harmed.
Interpretation
The story shows the greatness of Buddha. The little parrot, who was the form of Buddha, fell himself upon the danger and tried to save the trapped animals from the burning forest. Although the parrot was safe while flying to the river, he wanted to save the animals. So his feathers were charred, his feet were scorched, his lungs ached and his eyes became red. Having great risk, as the parrot saved the animals, we can say it is greatness. Here, parrot’s greatness is the Buddha’s greatness because the Buddha was born as a little parrot.
We can also interpret the story from this way- God loves him who loves helpless. The little parrot, burning himself, saved the helpless animals which were trapped in the burning forest. That’s why later, one of the God’s changed himself into the golden eagle and helped the parrot to put out the burning fire by pouring tears down which were stream after stream. The parrot who helped helpless animals was helped by God.
Critical Thinking
There are some points in this story with which we do not agree. Can a man be born as a parrot? Can a parrot putout burning forest with few drops of water brought in his feathers? Are there Gods? If there are Gods, why we can’t see them? Can tear drops flow like a stream? How can burned animals and every parts of the burnt forest be restored just within from glistening of the tear drops? In the story, we find the little parrot and the eagle talking with each other, can bird speak like human being?
Assimilation
By reading this story, I have come to know about little parrot’s bravery and greatness. The parrot put himself in danger and tried to save the trapped animals in the burning forest. At last he got success. That is why he is praised by everyone. From the same way I want to do some adventurous work by putting myself in danger to get success and be praised.
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