A Tale of Two Birds

Introduction

Every story can be segmented into three basic parts, namely: The theme, the moral, and the setting. The theme consists of the structure and the reasoning, the moral consists of the logical conclusion and empathetic analysis, and the setting is made up of the characters and their arcs. In this tutorial, we are going to be taking a look at ‘A tale of two birds’ and we are going to analyse the context behind the story.

The first part of the story begins with the loss of a parent. The parent of the two birds dies tragically after a storm sweeps the jungle. The storm ends with the separation of the two birds, one landing near the robbers and the other near the rishi. The story’s central theme is thus established as a distinction between good and evil.

Before we proceed, it is important to understand how the two birds in the story reflect two very ideologies yet they are a part of the same band. Therefore, the two birds share familial bonds and are the two sides of the same coin, deterred by their upbringing.

The second part of the story begins with the introduction of a king. The king is on a hunt and spots a deer far into the forest. He follows the deer, only to end up stranded and isolated from the world. Tired, he sits down but manages to hear the first bird informing the robbers of the king’s presence. It alerts him and he manages to evade the robbers before a tragedy.

As he progresses through the jungle, he finds himself before the rishi’s ashram and hears the second bird welcome him to the humble ashram. Moved by the generosity and the good nature of the bird, he is taken aback when he realizes that the birds look eerily similar. The bird confirms that his suspicions are true and that the bird he encountered earlier was his brother.

The story concludes as the rishi returns to the ashram and answers the bewildered king’s questions. According to him, a person’s company and upbringing mould his personality and vision.

Understanding the Story

Theme

The theme of the story, as suggested before, is a distinction between good and evil. To understand this better, let us take references from within the story. The introduction of the story allows us to establish that two separate birds are forming an absolute good and an absolute evil as the crux.

For example, the word ‘robbers’ in “One of them came down near a cave where a gang of robbers lived.”, suggests the presence of an absolute evil while the word ‘rishi’ in “The other landed outside a rishi’s ashram a little distance away”, suggests the presence of absolute good.

Moral

The moral of this story is to help us recognize the importance of upbringing and surrounding company. The bird surrounded by robbers speaks in a crass and rude tone while the bird surrounded by rishi speaks in a gentle and assuring tone.

Setting

The story is set in a jungle away from civilization. Therefore, it supposedly harbours a priest (rishi) seeking peace and robbers seeking danger.

There are five characters present in the story given as follows:

• Two birds who are brothers

• A king

• A priest

• A band of robbers.

Each of them has different interests and ideologies. The bird raised by the robbers is supposed to represent absolute evil while the bird raised by the priest is supposed to represent absolute good. The king holds a neutral position as he explores both the good and the evil.

FAQs

Q1. “One is known by the company he keeps.” How does the story justify the aforementioned statement?

Ans. The story clearly justifies the aforementioned statement as it defines the kind of company that the birds had. By distinguishing between a robber and a rishi, the story established the difference in the ways with which the birds might have been brought up.

Q2. Good and evil exist in the same space. Do you agree?

Ans. Yes. In the story, the robbers and the rishi exist in the same jungle. This signifies that good and evil exist in the same space. Furthermore, the birds know about each other’s existence as suggested and referenced in the text. The good bird talks about the bad bird when questioned by the king. Apart from the good and evil presence, the jungle also harbours a neutral presence in the form of the king. Therefore, it is only right to assume that the jungle or the space harbours a good, an evil, and a neutral presence.

Q3. What do you think would have happened if the parent bird survived safely through the storm?

Ans. The upbringing of the birds might have been different. The bad bird would have gotten a chance to look at the world from a different perspective. He might also have exhibited a different behaviour than his present self.

Q4. Do you think there is the presence of absolute good or absolute evil in the world?

Ans. No. There cannot be absolute good or absolute evil in the world. There will always be shades of grey where a person might have some qualities that are good or some qualities that are bad. Although, in the story, it is a matter of circumstance and company which moulds the bird to be bad.

Q5. Why was the king confused after he reached the ashram?

Ans. The king was confused because he saw the same bird as before perched on a tree. However, this time, the bird was welcoming him to the ashram and offering him cold water from the pot. This confused him as he had seen the same bird call out and inform the robbers of the king’s presence. It was later that the king realized that there were two different birds from the same family and they looked similar to each other.