The strange bird with two heads

CEBU, Philippines - Once upon a time, there lived a strange bird with two heads, facing opposite directions. The two heads used to fight and argue with each other, even for very simple reasons. While they shared the same body, the two heads behaved like rivals! The strange bird lived in a big banyan tree, along the bank of a river.

One day, while flying over the river, one head of the bird saw a beautiful tree that had a bright red fruit. One head of the bird wanted to eat the fruit and the bird flew down to pick the fruit from the tree.

The bird plucked the sweet smelling fruit, and sat by the banks of the river and started eating it. The fruit was eaten by one head, which was the one that saw the fruit from the sky. The head that ate the part praised the fruit so much, as the fruit was very tasty.

While eating, the other head, asked the first head, “Can you give me a piece to taste?”

The first head responded, “Don’t you see, we are having only one stomach? So even if I eat it in my mouth, it still in our shared stomach.”

The other head insisted, “But I wanted to taste the fruit, so you should give me.”

The first head got angry the other’s insistence.  “I was the one who saw the fruit and, therefore, I have the right to eat it without sharing with anyone.”

The second head got depressed by the refusal. It became very sad, and went silent. 

A few days later, while the bird was flying, the second head saw a beautiful pink fruit in a tree. The bird swooped down near the tree and tried to pick the fruit. As the bird got hold of the fruit, the second head began to eat it.

The other birds living in the tree cried in unison, “Stop! Don’t eat it. It is a poisonous fruit! It will kill you!”

The first head shouted, ‘Don’t eat it. Don’t eat it’. However the second head did not listen to the first head. 

But the second head insisted, “I will eat it, because I was the one who saw it!”

In hearing the second head’s insistence, the first head shouted, “No! Please don’t eat it. We will both die!”

The second head stood his ground. “Since I was the one who saw it, I have the right to eat it. If it goes down to our shared stomach – so be it. I have to taste this fruit!”

Frightened by the second head’s firmness, the first head got very sad and went silent. The second head went ahead and ate the poisonous fruit. In just a few minutes, the strange bird with two heads fell down – and died!

The moral of the story: At all costs, try and avoid a quarrel in a family. (www.kidsworldfun.com) (FREEMAN)