The Man and his Pigeon

North Africa

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Once upon a time there was a man who kept a pigeon in a cage. It was very unhappy in the cage, because it was a wise pigeon, who could even speak the language of human beings. It wanted to be free to be able to fly over the world.

One day the man decided to go an a journey. The pigeon asked him, "Please, master, if you meet any other pigeons, just greet them and tell them I send them my best wishes."

The man said he would do so as he was walking along the country roads. But strangely, all the pigeons he met pretended to be dead as soon as they saw him, so the man walked past them.

When he came back, the man told the pigeon all these things, ending his tale in this way. "Your pigeon friends all pretended to be dead, so I left them lying there."

The next morning when the man woke up, he saw his pigeon lying dead in its cage, so he opened the cage, took out the pigeon, and threw it away in the shrubs behind his house. But as soon as it was out of his hand, the pigeon opened its wings and flew up to a high branch, on which it perched. There it spoke, "Thank you. You are no longer my master! Those pigeons gave me valuable advice. They showed me how I could be free and leave your cage!"

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