Learning Through Brief Tales

A bird perched high on a tree branch, singing its song. It sang in the morning, sang all day, sang in the evening, and sang at dusk too. A rabbit happened to be passing by that evening. The rabbit called up to the bird, "Listen, brother, I saw you this morning doing nothing but sitting there singing, and you're still singing now. Don't you have any work to do?" The bird replied, "No, brother, I have no work. I don't like working—I only like to sing." Hearing this, the rabbit said, "But I have so much work to do!" The bird said, "You're foolish, that's why you work." "Then should I also sit idle like you, doing no work?" "Yes, sit idle—work clearly bothers you." The rabbit thought this was sound advice! So the rabbit sat beneath that very tree and began to sing. Some time later, a fox was passing by. When the fox saw the rabbit singing merrily, it pounced from behind and devoured him!

What is the lesson of this story? The lesson is this: when you're sitting in such a high position that no one can reach you even with outstretched arms, then you can afford to sit idle, doing nothing. But until you've earned the qualification to occupy such heights, you must work tirelessly to make yourself worthy of that position.

To escape the harsh winter, a bird was flying from Siberia to Bangladesh—a migratory bird, you understand! It was so cold that midway through its journey, the bird froze and fell to the ground like a block of ice. The bird's death seemed certain. It was suffering terribly when a cow happened to pass that way. When the cow saw a bird trapped inside a chunk of ice, a mischievous idea struck it. It thought, "Let me relieve myself here and see what happens." So it defecated right on top of the ice block.

The warmth of the dung melted all the ice from the bird's body. As the ice melted away, the bird was saved. Overjoyed, the bird began singing in gratitude to the cow. After a while, a wicked cat was walking down that path. When the cat heard sounds coming from the dung, it cleared away the manure and found a small bird. Immediately, it grabbed and devoured the bird.

What are the lessons of this story?

First lesson: The cow dropped its dung on the bird out of mischief. But this saved the bird's life. This means that not everyone who drops filth on us is our enemy. Not everyone who drops shit on you is your enemy! When we don't study, our teachers, our parents, our loved ones scold us; when we make mistakes, they rebuke us. At those moments, they seem like enemies. But they may not be our enemies at all.

Second lesson: Who rescued the bird from the filth? The cat. Was the one who extended a helping hand to rescue it from the mess the bird's friend? It devoured the bird, murdered it! When we're in trouble or difficulty, not everyone who extends a helping hand is truly our friend. Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend!

Harm often lurks within apparent kindness, though we fail to recognize it in time. Let me tell you a true story. During the era of slavery in America, there was a slave named Freedom. The master he served had only one leg—his right leg was missing, only his left leg remained. Whenever the master bought shoes, he would keep the left shoe and always give the right shoe to Freedom. Freedom was delighted to receive shoes—his master was so kind, so generous... giving him shoes when he couldn't afford to buy his own! Overjoyed and grateful to his master, he would struggle to wear the right shoe on both feet.

After wearing it this way for a long time, his left foot eventually twisted to match the shape of his right foot! It was permanently deformed, and Freedom became disabled! This is why I say that what seems fair and good to me may not actually be beneficial.

The third lesson was the most important for me—I find it most meaningful.

When the bird was in danger, trapped in the filth, if it had kept its mouth shut, it wouldn't have died. It would have survived perfectly well. So when we're in trouble, in the muck, in difficulties, our only job is to keep our mouths shut. When you are in the shit, keep your mouth shut!

One day will be yours alone, but these present days are not yours. That day will surely come. When that day arrives, your position itself will speak for you. Until then, keep your mouth shut and work in complete silence.

I personally never reply to anyone's words—I didn't before, I would just listen quietly. Completely silent listening. Many people would say many things, many hurtful things. Hurting others with words is our favorite pastime! They would hurt me with words, and I would say nothing. I wanted to strike back properly, but I said nothing, endured it all silently. When I finally achieved something, my work and my position didn't just silence the words—it slapped those who had once hurt me with words. Everyone fell silent, everyone is quiet now. Yes, one must wait for that day while working tirelessly.

Many of us know about sunk costs, especially commerce students. Sunk cost is money that's already been spent and lost. Let me explain with a story. Suppose you go to a coffee shop and order coffee. It's a prepaid shop. You pay a hundred taka, the coffee arrives. Just as you're about to drink it, a fly comes from somewhere and lands in the coffee. You see the fly floating in the coffee, struggling, with substances leaking from its body! You feel disgusted! Eventually, the fly dies right there.

Then you think, "I've already spent the money. I won't get it back. Even if I return the coffee, they won't refund the money. What should I do? I've already paid." So with great disgust, you remove the fly with a spoon and drink the coffee. Despite your revulsion, you consume it to make good use of your money! Then what happens? Because you drank it with disgust, you get sick. Your stomach troubles make you miss work for two days. You see a doctor. You spend money on transportation to the clinic, the doctor's fee, medicine—all additional costs. You couldn't work either. Time is money, after all! That has a cost. Yes, many costs accumulated.

If you had thrown away the coffee without drinking it, how much would it have cost you? Just a hundred taka. Because you couldn't let go of that hundred taka, many additional expenses accumulated. I tell you this: if you cannot leave behind your sorrows, your disappointments, what you've lost in life, and move forward, many more losses will accumulate in your life. I say this: if my past prevents me from moving forward, if it grips my leg and won't let go no matter what, then to move forward, I'll cut off my leg if necessary, but I will move forward! No problem at all!