Once upon a time many quails lived together in a forest, The wisest of them all was their leader. A man lives near the forest and earns his living by catching quail and selling them.
Day after day he listened to the leader's note calling for quail. Gradually this man, the birdcatcher, was able to summon quail together. Hearing that tone, the quail thought that their leader was calling.
When they gathered together, the birdcatcher threw his net over them and went to town, where he immediately sold all the quail he caught.
The wise leader saw the birdcatcher's plan to catch the quail. He called the birds to him and said, “This breeder is taking so many of us, we have to stop him.
I have thought of a plan; here it is: The next time the birdcatcher throws a net over you, each of you must stick your head through one of the small holes in the net. Then all of you together must fly to the nearest thorn bush.
You can leave your net in the thorns and free yourself." The quail said it was a very good plan and they would try it the next time the birdcatcher threw the net over them.
The next day the birdcatcher came and called them together. Then he threw a net over them. The quail lifted the net and flew with it to the nearest thorn bush where they left it.
They flew back to their leader to tell him how well his plan had worked. The birdcatcher was busy until the evening unhooked his net from the thorns and he went home empty-handed.
The next day the same thing happened, and the next. His wife was angry that he didn't bring home the money, but the birdcatcher said, “In fact, the quails are working together now.
When my net passed through them, they flew with it, leaving it in the thorns. As soon as the quails start fighting, I will be able to catch them.”
Not long after that, one of the quail that perched on its feeding ground, accidentally stepped on another bird's head. "Who stepped on my head?" shouted the second angrily. "Yes; but I didn't mean to. Don't be angry," said the first quail, but the second quail got angry and said evil things.
Soon all the quails have taken sides in this quarrel. When the birdcatcher came that day, he threw his net over them, and this time instead of flying with him, one side said,
"Now, you lift the net," and the other side said, "Raise yourself." "You're trying to make us lift everything," said the quail to one side. "No, we don't!" another said, "You start and we'll help," but neither side started.
So the quails quarreled, and when they quarreled, the birdcatcher caught them all with his net. He took them to town and sold them for a good price.
The lesson from the story above is, if we work together, we will be better off and avoid divisions that are easily exploited by others.
