hundred and fifty years old,” said the smiling tortoise, “which means that long after you’re gone, I will still be moving along this path with a smile on my face.”
Moral: If you take the long view, sometimes things will work out after all.
The Mosquito and the Hummingbird
It was a late, bright spring morning when the mosquito and the hummingbird found themselves in the same backyard.
The mosquito was quite taken by how fast the wings of the hummingbird fluttered.
“Tell me, friend,” said the mosquito, “how do you manage to fly and yet stand still at the same time?”
“I don’t think about it else I would drop to the ground,” responded the hummingbird. “That’s just the way it is,” he said as he returned to the fire bush flower on the clinging vine.
“But don’t you ever consider how you manage to do this?” asked the mosquito.
“Look, if I had to count how many times my wings go back and forth, I would soon grow weary and fall down and be swallowed by a cat,” said the hummingbird, getting a little angry.
“But, still, don’t you ever wonder how you do it?” the mosquito asked again.
This time the hummingbird flew away quickly after telling the mosquito that he couldn’t stand any more questions.
The mosquito buzzed and laughed. “Now I have fulfilled my purpose—being irritating.”
Moral: Everyone has some purpose, even if only to irritate others.
The Bee and the Wasp
The wasp was one very proud insect. He knew that even the threat of a sting from him made humans race away. “Such power, such power,” he said to himself as he looked for more humans to scare.
It only took a moment for him to spot a family on a picnic. He went into attack mode, diving toward a child and making her run away. “No one can stand up to me,” he laughed to himself with a very wasp-like chuckle that sounded very much like a whizzing noise.
He decided to move in closer to strike terror in the other humans, when he came upon a bee.
“I hope you are not planning to scare these humans away,” the wasp said, “because I am louder and more dangerous than you.”
“No,” responded the smaller bee, “I could sting them, but I choose not to do so. There are other ways to make yourself known.”
“And what gets more attention than my loud buzzing?” asked the wasp.
“Well, it is true you get their attention,” responded the bee, “but if you look around, you will see all the family have left—which surely must make you feel lonely, not just powerful.”
The wasp thought for a moment and then said, “Well, at least I get their attention, which more than I can say for you.”
“But you miss my point,” said the bee. “I am the insect who gives them honey, so they remember me for a long time after I leave.”
So saying, the bee fled to his hive, leaving the wasp wondering why he suddenly felt so lonely.
Moral: You can keep the attention of others much longer with honey than with a sting.
A Star, a Tree, and a Bird
The robin sat on a limb of the evergreen tree. He watched the night sky.
“Look at that shooting star!” he sung, wishing he could have half the star power.
The evergreen tree also wished to be more, remembering how the other trees put on coats of red and yellow and orange as the fall turned into a wild display of colors.
Winter soon arrived. There were few shooting stars to be seen. The once proud trees had lost their colors and were brown and bare. The robin returned to a branch in the evergreen tree.
Noon soon came. The sun shone brightly in the pale, grey sky. “How much more beautiful is the sun than all the shooting stars,” said the robin. Then, looking at the needles of the evergreen tree, he thought how marvelous their color against the winter whiteness. So saying, he threw out his chest and sang a wonderful winter song that made the tree glad.
Moral: Don’t judge your own beauty by how others look. Just be glad to be you.
Big Fish, Small Fowl
One day a great whale was sunning herself not far off shore. Along came a seagull, flying lowly overhead.
“My, my,” said the seagull, what a great creature this whale is. How marvelous to be so large and command such respect, while I, small and weak, seem but a speck against the sky.”
The whale looked up and spotted the seagull. “Oh, oh, how wonderful it must be to be free to fly wherever you want and not be imprisoned by water. I would give anything to be a seagull.”
The seagull flew off into the clouds. The whale turned and headed back out to sea.
Moral: Never compare yourself to others; you’ll either feel inferior or superior, and neither attitude will win you friends.
The Caterpillar
The caterpillar wiggled with great difficulty in his own little home, barely able to move. He grew increasingly depressed thinking about his situation.
“I am doomed forever,” said he, crying out to the Creator to be put out of his misery.
The Creator knew better: Things are not always what they appear to be.
“Imagine you are the most beautiful of all my creations, more wonderful than a fall day, more pleasing to the eye than a morning glory on the vine,” spoke the Creator.
The caterpillar imagined himself to be just what the Creator spoke. He fell asleep and dreamt.
One day, sitting quite still in his small home, the caterpillar felt himself changing. “This is interesting,” he said, looking up to see a small hole in the roof of his home.
Then, in the twinkling of an eye, the caterpillar was free. He floated in the morning breeze and said hello to the morning glories. He watched his amazing black and orange wings fluttering in the breeze, surprised at how graceful he had become.
Is this a dream, he asked himself, or am I completely changed? It didn’t matter really; he was just enjoying himself now.
Moral: Believing is seeing.
The Crows
The crowd of crows perched on the farmer’s fence. They were hungry, but they also were afraid because right there in the middle of the corn field was the farmer, his arms out to warn them not to eat on his property.
“If that
