Reading Notes: Tales of a Parrot, Part B

"Elephant,  Kanchanburi, Thailand 2018" by Dis da fi we. Web source: Creative Commons. 

This is another fun story from the Tales of A Parrot. Today's story that I am  taking notes over is:

The Frog, the Bee, and the Bird


Like the other stories in this unit, this tale begins with a parrot telling Khohjisteh a story.


There once was a bird, Saweh, who had laid eggs in a shady umbrella tree. Unexpectedly, an elephant comes and scratches his back on the trunk of the tree, which of course causes the eggs to fall.

The Saweh is very upset, which makes sense because her eggs were just destroyed by some careless elephant. I would definitely be upset too. She talks to her other bird friend who reports that they have also been oppressed by the elephant. They know that being birds will make it more difficult for them to be able to take down an elephant.

So the bird friend tells the Saweh that they know a bee. Not just any bee, though. This is a very wise and smart bee. They are going to consult with the Bee in order to find out how they should handle the situation.

The Bee tells them that he wants to help, but is going to recommend that the two bird go and speak to the commander of the frog army. The Frog is confident that the group of small animals will be able to take down the elephant by working together. The Bee buzzes in the Elephant's ear while the bird with the long bill uses his beak to pokes the Elephant's eyes out (OUCH). Once the elephant can't see, the Frog will pretend to lead him to water, but the Elephant will really be lead into a hole where he will die.

While the end of this story is a little harsh, I do like the tale of a rag tag group of underdogs coming together to defeat a more powerful oppressor.

Bibliography
The Frog, the Bee, and the Bird from Tales of a Parrot, by Ziya'al-Din Nakhshabi (1801). Web source: the Untextbook.