The lion and the pigeon "

Many years ago, during the primitive period of humans, when all animals lived together at a place far from humans, there was a popular kingdom of animals called ‘’Meriopsis’’.                                                                                                                                      The kingdom of ‘’Meriopsis’’ was known for its large population of animals, both dangerous and friendly ones, and no human was allowed to enter the kingdom. Any human who entered the land was to be killed by the royal family, which consisted of the Lions, Dogs, and Cats.                                                                                                                                 All the animals in Meriopsis were very hardworking, and they all worked like humans, for some of them would go to the land of humans unnoticed by humans. They did this to learn the ways of humans. The animals also communicated in one language. The animals were very clever, which is why they could sneak into the land of humans unnoticed, but would always notice it when humans entered their land due to their keen sight, ability to detect smell, and sounds quickly.                                                                                                                                                                                                      Some of the animals in Meriopsis were poor, while others were rich. In the midst of the poor animals was a bird who was known by the name ‘Chetty’. Chetty was a pigeon who had lost his parents while he was at a tender age and would regularly go to the other animals for help. Some of the animals would help Chetty whenever he needed help, while others would not. Chetty was very ugly in appearance because most of the animals in Meriopsis, including the family of his uncle, which was the Turkey, did not treat him fairly, even though he was an orphan.                                                                                         Jimbo the Lion, who was the king of the animals, had given a dirty and unkempt house to Chetty following the death of his parents because he considered him unworthy of having a decent house since he belonged to the birds’ family. Following the death of his parents, Chetty's job was to join his fellow birds in passing the king’s messages to other animals in Meriopsis. Since he had no one to speak for him, he was always paid a quarter of what he was entitled to be paid for his work, and this contributed to the reasons why he appeared ugly, for he did not always have all that he wanted.                                                                                                                                                            Many years had passed since Chetty lost his parents to a huge tree that fell on them while they were perched around the woods. Now, humans were planning to eradicate all animal kingdoms to bring them under control, for humans believed that animals knew what could make humans live longer than usual. So many animal kingdoms had fallen to humans, who took some animals as pets while the rest fled into farther places, far from human reach.                                                                                                                           Meriopsis was not easy for humans to trample over because Jimbo, the king, had given snakes’ homes close to all possible roads leading to the kingdom of Meriopsis. One day, a great hunter decided to set in into the forbidden forest, as called by humans.

His intention was not to hunt any animal from the forbidden forest; instead, he wanted to explore the forest and find out what was inside the forest that made it impossible for humans to take over the forest. Granted, Kiv the hunter was far from a superstitious hunter in contrast to his fellow hunters.

  When Kiv entered Meriopsis, his heart began to beat at an extraordinary rate, and his pulse sped up. Kiv was a brave hunter, but he was surprised at how fast his heart was beating. Kiv sat under a big tree watching a stream which had brought forth many myths in the town where Kiv came from.’’ Everyone who set their foot in the stream never came back to their home”. This was always the summary of all the myths that sprang from this small stream. Even though Kiv the hunter was not a superstitious person, he felt like giving up on his plan because the more he kept gazing at the stream, the more he saw in his mind's eyes those who might have never returned from the forest.                                                 After some time, Kiv fell asleep under the big tree, and before he knew it, darkness covered the forest and when he woke up, he decided to find a better place to hide from the sight of any vicious animal. Fortunately for Kiv, he found a place close to a rock. When it was midnight, Kiv was surprised at what he saw. He heard a squashing sound from the small stream. He saw many big snakes moving towards the road where he had used to enter Meriopsis. He kept on watching the snakes until he saw them no more. Kiv decided to cross the small stream that night, come what may.   Kiv felt very happy when he crossed the stream without disappearing or finding his self in another world. After wandering for some hours in the forest, Kiv found a dirty place in the forest. 

So many human bones piled up at the place and Kiv reasoned that the protectors of Meriopsis like lived around that place so he decided to stay close to that spot in order to carry out what made him to set foot on Meriopsis. Kiv walked in the dark forest without a lamp because he never knew that his journey would require him to spend even a night in the forest. Kiv sat on a rock as he continued waiting for what he considered as the monster of the forbidden forest to appear. Soon after watching his surrounding for some time, his eyes grew weary and he fell asleep. After just three hours of deep sleep, Kiv felt something hitting his face. Kiv immediately woke up from his sleep, but he was not surprised at what he saw.” It’s only a little bird dancing on my body,” Kiv said to himself. When the bird saw that Kiv was awake, it began dragging Kiv’s clothe so Kiv thought that the bird was telling him to get up. Kiv got up, and then the bird left his clothe and began flying until he stopped at the top of a rock close to where he was lying. Kiv walked toward the bird and when he arrived at where the bird was staying, he saw a big hole beneath the rock. When the bird saw that Kiv was watching the hole, it held Kiv’s clothe by its mouth and thereafter left it. The bird flew into the hole and Kiv followed it.

 On entering the large hole, Kiv was amazed at how the bird rolled a big stone which it used to cover the rock. The rock had a small hole sufficient for allowing a bird of it size to pass through. Kiv believed that the bird had only opened the large hole just to let him enter the rock. Kiv believed that his story was going to be different from other humans who had tried to penetrate Meriopsis. Kiv reasoned this way because he believed that he had found a protective friend in Meriopsis. When it was daytime, Kiv knew it because of the small hole in the rock. Kiv talked to the pigeon because he thought that this bird could hear him but, couldn’t speak to him. The bird kept nodding his head at all that Kiv said.                                                                                                                                                     After a long discussion with the bird, something happened that made Kiv realize that the bird truly understood what he was saying. Kiv told the bird that he felt hungry and immediately the bird flew out of the rock only to return with some apples. Kiv ate the apples and he decided not to stay any longer in the forbidden forest after hearing the scary roar of Jimbo the lion. Soon after hearing the roar. The lion ran away from near the rock where Kiv was staying.                                                                                                     That knight Kiv left the kingdom of Meriopsis as the bird led the safe way out. By the time the bright light of another day came up. Kiv and his friend arrived at his home.   

 After three years had passed since Kiv and the bird came out from the forbidden forest, the bird learnt how to speak in a language that Kiv understood. The bird told Kiv that it name is Chetty and that the forbidden forest was called Meriopsis. Chetty answered Kiv’s many questions regarding Meriopsis. Chetty told Kiv that he was only spared death from the snakes because all animals in Meriopsis had gone to a special meeting and the snakes ate and drank until they were drunk on the night when Kiv set his foot on Meriopsis. After getting all that he wanted to know about Meriopsis, he went to the king of the town where he was living and he narrated to the king what he had discovered concerning Meriopsis.                                                                                                                     The king rewarded Kiv with many fine gifts, including a cloth with many colorful patterns. On getting home, Kiv showed the gifts to Chetty. Since birds don’t put on clothes, Kiv reasoned that he should paint Chetty’s body with different beautiful colors just the same way other humans do to their pigeons. After some months had passed, the king of the town where Kiv lived in, led all the brave humans in his town to Meriopsis to put an end to that kingdom. Humans scared the snakes by passing a huge smoke around the forest for two hours. After the smoke was put off, all humans marched into Meriopsis and after crossing the river, they began capturing many animals in Meriopsis. Some were to be used as pets and farm animals, while others were to be used as food by the humans. During the conquest, Chetty accidentally met Jimbo the lion at a place covered from human sight. Jimbo said that he was surprised to see Chetty again, even looking more handsome than he used to be.                                                                                                                    Jimbo asked Chetty how come he could speak both the language of the humans as well as the language of Meriopsis. Chetty laughed at first and thereafter told Jimbo Only one act of generosity made this possible.’’ Jimbo immediately left Chetty when he saw that humans were drawing closer to the spot. When it was about evening time, the king of Kiv’s town thought that he had finally dismantled the kingdom of Meriopsis, so he took his men away from the forest. After that day, the kingdom of Meriopsis was set into confusion and all other animals in Meriopsis no longer obeyed Jimbo the lion who was the king of Meriopsis because they believed that he could no longer protect them anymore not to speak of ruling Meriopsis well any longer. After a year, the food supply in Meriopsis ran out because the animals in Meriopsis no longer worked as a team. Some animals in Meriopsis starved to death within a short period of time. All the birds in Meriopsis flew away to the land of humans for survival. Jimbo had a large store of food in his palace, but he did not give any of it to any animal that begged him.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Jimbo had no family so he chased all animals that used to belong to the royal family out of the palace. Left with no other option, all the animals who belonged to the royal family turned other animals in Meriopsis into their food. All other animals in Meriopsis began fleeing to their hiding places whenever they saw the royal family. Moreover, Jimbo's food decayed after a brief period of time, and he had no food left in his storehouse. It was then that he wished he had been more generous to his subjects in Meriopsis. He tried to become friends with all the animals in Meriopsis once again, but it was too late. He felt lonely and isolated throughout his entire life. Meanwhile, Chetty the pigeon found a wife who was raised in a kingdom that was not Meriopsis. Soon after getting his wife and moving to a new house, Chetty stopped speaking the language understood by humans while he lived a satisfying life with his family.

          THE END

MORAL LESSONS

·        Do not discriminate against others.

·        Always give help to others, especially when they are in need.

·        Be kind to others, even if it seems that they don’t appreciate it.

·        Be generous and always be ready to share.

·        Don’t be greedy.

·        Always treat your friends fairly.