The story of the two sisters and the wounded bird is from South Asian folklore and is suitable as a moral story for kids. It is one of the Jataka stories and is among the folktale stories with moral lessons in the region. The story contains moral lessons, depicting both the good and the bad and their consequences.
So, like many folktales from around the world, this story includes certain levels of descriptions that depict violence on animals while highlighting their pure love for them. Therefore, it will be best for parents to read the story to see if it is worthy of being one of the moral stories for kids. Mostly, this will be a fine moral story for kids or even a good bedtime story with a moral. Happy storytelling!
Once upon a time, there were two sisters living in a rural area. They both were married and lived with their husbands in two separate houses in the same village. One day, the elder sister visited her younger sister with her husband. The younger sister welcomed her elder sister warmly. She treated her sister and her husband to tasty food and beverages. Then they had a nice talk about life and many more. The elder sister noticed that everything at the younger sister’s place seemed to be going well. They had quite wealthy lives. So, the elder sister was waiting for the right time to ask about it.
At the end of a wonderful day in the evening, it was time for the elder sister and her husband to go back. The younger sister gave her elder sister gifts before saying good-bye. Then, the elder sister took the opportunity to clear her doubts. “You seem to do so well. The house looks nice, you wear nice clothes, and your food is so tasty. Everything looks so fine. What is your secret?” the elder sister asked.
“Since you are my sister, I will tell you. But promise me to keep this a secret,” the younger sister said.
That made the older sister even more curious. “Okay, I am your sister. You can trust me,” the elder sister said.
“Well then,” the younger sister started talking. “One day, when we were collecting firewood in the jungle, we found a wounded bird. It was in a lot of pain. Almost all the feathers of the bird were gone too. So, we couldn’t look away. My husband and I took the bird home. Then we cleaned the wounds and put medicine on them. We fed the bird, cleaned the wounds, and put medicine in until the wounds healed and the feathers grew.”.
“So, then?” the elder sister interjected and asked.
“Then, after a few weeks, the bird fully recovered. So he could fly away. But, before it flew away, it took us to a tree in the forest. There were huge fruits hanging from that tree. The bird asked us to cut open those fruits. So, we cut them open. Those were filled with gold, gems, and pearls. The bird asked us to take one fruit at a time and said only we would be able to take fruit from that tree. So, we have been doing as the bird said,” the younger sister revealed the story.
The elder sister was stunned by listening to this story. She said bye to her sister and departed. On the way home and after going home, the elder sister kept thinking about what her younger sister said. She wanted her to have such a treasure too. She told the story to her husband too. He felt the same as his wife. Days passed by. But the elder sister could not take her thoughts off of the story her sister told. One evening, while she was thinking, she got an idea. She shared it with her husband. Both agreed to execute the plan.
The next day, she looked for a bird. When she found one, she caught the bird and wounded it. Plucked all of its feathers. The bird was in so much pain. Then she called her husband, saying there was a wounded bird. They took the bird home. I cleaned the wounds and put medicine on them. She treated the bird the same way her sister said she did: feeding, cleaning, and looking after it. After a few weeks, the bird fully recovered.
Then the bird took them to the forest. The elder sister and her husband followed the bird to the forest. They were so excited. They thought they were going to have unlimited treasure. The bird took them to a majestic tree. The trunk of the tree was covered with its huge fruits. The bird said, “These fruits contain gifts for you for what you did,” and flew away.
The couple could not wait anymore. They were craving to see their treasure. So, they plucked down all the fruits that were hanging from the tree. Once the fruits are put down, the elder sister and her husband cut open the biggest two fruits. What a result for their evil actions! A lot of birds came out of those fruits, as well as from the fruits on the ground. The birds surrounded them and attacked them. The husband and wife ran back home, getting pecked by birds. The wounds they got from the birds took weeks to heal.