The Sparrow and the King

Once upon a time,

A sparrow came across a single barley grain on the ground. Joyous over, the little treasure, The sparrow decided suddenly, What the hell, I will wear the  Sign of possession.

The sparrow flew to the palace of the king of all kings and found the king wearing a splendid necklace of gold water-mantis. Very taken with the king's grand jewel, the sparrow thought that it, too, should sport something just that precious.

''Now I have what the king has! which the sparrow retied on a length of thread which it wore as neck-ornament. What the king owns, I have now as well'' The sparrow strutted about the palace, flaunting its new necklace. Intrigued by sparrow's its defiance, the king ordered his servants to find out where this seemingly insignificant bird had found its grain of barley.

The servants hastily followed the sparrow, and after some searching, they found that the barley seed had come from the king's shrine. They told this to the king, who was furious over the bird’s insolence. ''Down it, and take the grain,'' commanded the king.

The servants complied without hesitation, hitting the sparrow with an object and removing the barley seed from its neck. And the sparrow, now writhing in pain, cried out, ''Where is the justice? Where is the justice in this?''

''Whatever the king had, I had,'' lamented the sparrow. The kings took it from me. ''They have wronged me!'' When the cockerel king heard the sparrow's cries of injustice he felt a twinge of guilt and commanded his servants to give the necklace of barley seeds back to the sparrow. The servants followed instructions, returning the necklace to the bird.

Once again proudly wearing the barley seed around its neck, the sparrow yelled, ''I ate what the kings ate. The kings were envious of it and took it from me, but now they have given it back to me out of fear.'' The king's anger only grew at the sparrow's words.

''Catch that sparrow, kill it, and cook it for me,'' he told his servants. I will eat it myself.

The servants captured the sparrow as the king commanded, and prepared it for the king's feast. Even now, they have the sparrow cook, waits for the sheen of fat of the bird, speaks boldly, awaiting his fate, informing the crowd of the bird's future fate.

''Be not afraid,'' it cried. "I am not scared. I'll deal with whatever it is bravely.'' With one last defiant chirp, the sparrow was slain, and its body prepped for the king's table.

The sparrow, while being cooked, kept commenting on the situation. Crikey, what a palace we live in!

What a lovely, fanciful palace! But even here the kings are envious of me.

They took my barley seed from me, I returned only out of fear, and so they killed my seed. And, yet, here I am still, a voice that will echo in the hearts of those who understand my story.

And when the sparrow came near the king's meal he gulped it down eagerly. But as he munched on, he started feeling a stomach discomfort. A prickling pain started to fester inside of him.

A weird feeling washed over him as if the sparrow's spirit had somehow entered him. The words of the sparrow echoing in his head , seemed to haunt him. ''What was so bad about the barley seed? What really agitated the king's jealousy?''

The king's stomach turned, and he remembered the sparrow's pleas for justice. In his anger and pride, he had done the innocent bird wrong. But even after death the sparrow's voice still echoed. The tale of the sparrow's injustice remained a powerful reminder of the consequences of envy, cruelty, and mistreatment.

The King, disturbed and anxious, consulted his ministers. But the sparrow's words rang in his ears, a reminder that no matter how tall his palace, how bright his rule, there were stronger wheels of justice that could not be denied.

And the tale of the symbolism of the power of the sparrow's spirit lived on in the tongues of him that heard it, a tale of the power of those that belittle your worth.