As told by Sodul Amin, 25 years, a Rohingya laborer
Kutupalong Refugee Camp, Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh
***
Long ago, there were many birds who lived together in a magnificent forest. Unfortunately, there were several months where the birds could not find food and they began to be very, very hungry.
One day, the birds were convened for a meeting to discuss their situation and lack of food. During the meeting, they put forward many proposals and voted on a final decision. They decided that the chief bird would lead the rest of the birds on a search for food in a faraway part of the forest.
On their way to find food, the flock of birds took a rest under a branch that was dense with leaves, as it was nighttime and raining heavily. Suddenly, they heard the beautiful, melodious sound of a bird rising up through the trees.
“Quick, friends, find the bird singing that beautiful song!” the chief bird exclaimed.
A group of birds took flight to find the source of the sound. They quickly found a small bird on the ground under a heavy leaf. He was flightless because he had no feathers.
“Why are you singing so sweetly?” one of the birds asked.
“I am unable to fly myself, so I sing to occupy my time,” the featherless bird replied.
“Your melodies have caught the ear of our chief, and we would very much like to bring you to meet him,” the birds said.
Just like that, the birds picked him up by his tiny legs and together they flew through the air to return to the group.
The chief was waiting anxiously for the group to return, and was relieved to see them return with the small, featherless bird. When the chief saw that the new bird lacked any feathers of his own, he took pity, since feathers are very important for birds. The chief kindly requested that the rest of the birds give the newcomer one feather each, which they did happily.
Suddenly the featherless bird, who had been flightless his entire life, had a full set of feathers!
The rest of the birds quickly went back to their important task of gathering food. Suddenly able to fly and possessing a marvelous singing voice, the new bird did not contribute to the work and spent his days singing and mocking the other birds for their hard work in finding food.
Gradually, his disturbances and insolence become quite intolerable to the other birds. Some of the birds complained to their chief.
Despite the many complaints, the chief bird refused to take action at first, hoping the new arrival would settle into his work. The chief gave him many chances to change his habits. Nevertheless, the once flightless bird was insolent and refused to help the others with finding food.
Finally, the chief bird was forced to make a decision, and told each of the birds to take back their feathers; after all, they needed them to fly and had given them voluntarily.
The featherless bird was featherless once again; without feathers, he was no longer able to fly, and doomed to a life again living on the ground. Finally, he came to realize that he must respect others and be grateful for their help.