Bird's gift

Dino the Potter and the Golden Wheat

In a small village lived a potter named Dino. Dino was a master of his craft. He could make beautiful and durable pots from clay. One day, the village’s generous landlord was so impressed by one of Dino’s pots that he gifted him a small piece of farmland.

Now, Dino was a potter. While he knew how to make pots, he knew very little about farming. He only knew that if he plowed the land and sowed seeds, crops would grow.

Eagerly, he plowed the land, but then he realized he didn’t know which seeds to plant. So he rushed to the market, picked the seeds that looked best, and returned to his field, scattering them all across the land.

Little did he know, the seeds were not for vegetables or fruits—they were flower seeds.

Within a few days, his entire field blossomed with flowers of every color and fragrance. Dino could not stop admiring his beautiful field. People were initially amazed, but soon, envy began to spread, as everyone wished to have a field as colorful and fertile as Dino’s. The fame of Dino’s flower field soon spread far and wide.

Not far from the village, beyond a forest, there were tall mountains. In a cave atop the highest mountain lived an old demon. The demon had a huge, strange bird. Its wings were enormous, but it had four thick legs, a small tail like a camel’s, and a long trunk like an elephant’s instead of a beak. Its body was massive, but it could fly incredibly fast.

One day, the bird flew toward Dino’s flower field. Seeing such beauty, it became greedy and landed among the flowers, hopping around and eating them. Dino ran to his field to stop it, but the bird was so huge he could not see it all at once. The thick plants also blocked his view.

When he saw its thick legs, he thought a rhino had entered his field. As he moved closer, he saw its trunk swinging and thought it was a swarm of giant insects. He wondered how to kill them. Suddenly, the bird flapped its enormous wings to fly, creating such a strong gust of wind that Dino was lifted into the air, fell, and lost consciousness.

When he regained consciousness, the bird had already flown away. Dino returned home quietly, thinking it had all been a dream.

A few days later, the bird returned to his field to eat more flowers. This time, Dino grew angry and ran to attack it. In panic, the bird took off, and Dino grabbed its small tail. The bird was too large for him to hold entirely, so he clung to the tail while the bird flew to the demon’s cave.

The old demon laughed upon seeing Dino. “What have you brought with you?” he asked the bird.

“I was enjoying the fragrant flowers in that foolish potter’s field,” said the bird. “But he kept disturbing me. When I flew, he grabbed my tail, so I brought him here.”

The demon laughed heartily at Dino’s foolishness. Dino, trembling with fear, huddled in a corner. The demon fed him and then gave him two pots of golden wheat, telling the bird, “Take this human back home.”

When Dino returned home, his wife asked, “Where were you all morning? I even checked the field, but you were nowhere to be found.”

Dino showed her the pots of wheat and told her the story of the demon and the bird. Amazed, she tried to roast the wheat, thinking it was ordinary. When that failed, Dino suggested boiling it instead. Even after boiling, the wheat did not cook. They finally tried to eat it raw, but it was still impossible to consume. Frustrated, Dino threw all the golden wheat into the trash and cooked ordinary rice for themselves, finally eating and sleeping peacefully.

Later, a goldsmith in the village wanted a ring made but lacked coal to melt the gold. He sent a woman to Dino’s house to collect coal. While scavenging through Dino’s discarded coal pile, she noticed the golden wheat. Unaware of its value, she collected it along with the coal and brought it to the goldsmith.

The goldsmith immediately recognized the wheat as gold. After hearing the story from the woman, he ran to the coal pile and collected all the golden wheat, which filled two pots.

Meanwhile, Dino saw the goldsmith collecting the wheat and shouted, “Fool! That wheat is useless! You can’t roast, boil, or chew it!”

The goldsmith laughed, “Foolish, it’s not useless—it’s gold!”

Dino was astonished and explained that the demon had given it to him after the giant bird incident. The goldsmith, tempted by the wealth, demanded a condition: he would return the golden wheat only if Dino got an equal amount of gold from the demon. Dino agreed.

A few days later, the bird returned to Dino’s field. Dino called the goldsmith. As the bird took flight, Dino grabbed its tail, and the goldsmith held onto Dino’s legs. The strange sight of Dino hanging from the bird’s tail while the goldsmith clung to Dino was breathtaking.

When the bird reached high into the sky, the goldsmith greedily asked, “How much gold can fit in one pot?”

Dino gestured, “A lot…” But as he let go, the bird’s tail slipped from his hands, and both fell swiftly to the ground. The goldsmith, falling first, died instantly. Dino fell on top of him, surviving but injured.

Truly, the story proved: “Greed is a terrible curse.” The goldsmith’s greed led to his downfall, while Dino, despite his struggles, survived.