Once there was a giant tree on which many swans used to live. Among them was an adult , intelligent and visionary swan. Everyone respected him and called him “Tau”. One day he saw a tiny vine hanging at the bottom of the tree. Tau called the other swans and said , “Look , destroy this vine. One day this vine will become the cause of our death”.
A youngster laughed and said , “Tau , how can this tiny vine become the reason of our deaths?”
The adult swan explained. ”Today it looks small to you. Slowly it will cover the whole trunk climbing up. The vine will stick to the trunk, becoming fat, and acting like ladder on the trunk . Any hunter can then climb the tree using the ladder and kill us.”
The other swans couldn’t believe it and said, “How can a tiny vine become a ladder ?”
One of them muttered, “This Tau is just saying some weird stories cause he wants to show off his knowledge.”
Hence, no one took tau’s words seriously. The swans didn’t have enough brains to see things far.
Time moved on. The vine clinged and reached the branches . Trunk of the vine became fat and a ladder was formed strong enough for any hunter to climb. Everyone started realizing what tau had said. But nothing could have happened now as the vine had become strong. No swan would be able to break it. One day when all of them went out to search for food, a bird trapper came from nowhere. As soon as he saw the ladder, he climbed the tree, made a trap and went away. In the evening when the swans returned to the tree, they got stuck in the trap made by the hunter. They could do nothing now. And only then they realized the intelligence and visionary of Tau. Everyone felt guilty for not listening what Tau had said and started cursing themselves. Tau was really angry and was sitting quietly.
One of them gathered enough courage and said , “Tau we were stupid, but now please turn your back towards us.
The other bird said , “Now you are our saviour out of this trap. We will always listen to you”. All the birds pleaded together. Tau said , “ Listen to me carefully. Tomorrow morning when the hunter will come , pretend to be dead. Thinking you all to be dead , he will take you out and will put you on the ground. Don’t move. Wait till the last swan is out. I will whistle then and you all fly away.
The hunter came the next day. He brought the net down the tree. He though the birds are dead and removed them one by one from the net. As the last bird was removed, Tau whistled. The swans flew with as much energy they could. They bowed their heads and thanked the Tau. They were alive because of Tau. The hunter sighed and sat on the ground.
Moral of the story: The words spoken by intelligent people should always be taken seriously.
A youngster laughed and said , “Tau , how can this tiny vine become the reason of our deaths?”
The adult swan explained. ”Today it looks small to you. Slowly it will cover the whole trunk climbing up. The vine will stick to the trunk, becoming fat, and acting like ladder on the trunk . Any hunter can then climb the tree using the ladder and kill us.”
The other swans couldn’t believe it and said, “How can a tiny vine become a ladder ?”
One of them muttered, “This Tau is just saying some weird stories cause he wants to show off his knowledge.”
Hence, no one took tau’s words seriously. The swans didn’t have enough brains to see things far.
Time moved on. The vine clinged and reached the branches . Trunk of the vine became fat and a ladder was formed strong enough for any hunter to climb. Everyone started realizing what tau had said. But nothing could have happened now as the vine had become strong. No swan would be able to break it. One day when all of them went out to search for food, a bird trapper came from nowhere. As soon as he saw the ladder, he climbed the tree, made a trap and went away. In the evening when the swans returned to the tree, they got stuck in the trap made by the hunter. They could do nothing now. And only then they realized the intelligence and visionary of Tau. Everyone felt guilty for not listening what Tau had said and started cursing themselves. Tau was really angry and was sitting quietly.
One of them gathered enough courage and said , “Tau we were stupid, but now please turn your back towards us.
The other bird said , “Now you are our saviour out of this trap. We will always listen to you”. All the birds pleaded together. Tau said , “ Listen to me carefully. Tomorrow morning when the hunter will come , pretend to be dead. Thinking you all to be dead , he will take you out and will put you on the ground. Don’t move. Wait till the last swan is out. I will whistle then and you all fly away.
The hunter came the next day. He brought the net down the tree. He though the birds are dead and removed them one by one from the net. As the last bird was removed, Tau whistled. The swans flew with as much energy they could. They bowed their heads and thanked the Tau. They were alive because of Tau. The hunter sighed and sat on the ground.
Moral of the story: The words spoken by intelligent people should always be taken seriously.
Tau = Tau in India is used for anyone who is elder.
