The Bird Who Cried ‘Fake!’

 

A man was deeply irritated by the egrets that kept coming to catch fish in his pond. To scare them away, he placed a scarecrow by the pond—dressed in a straw rain cape and a straw hat, with a bamboo pole in its hand.

At first, the egrets were frightened by the scarecrow and only dared to hover nearby. But when they realized it was nothing more than a dummy, they swooped down to catch fish again. Some even perched on its straw hat, looking carefree and content.

Seeing this, the man had a new idea. He removed the scarecrow and stood there himself, dressed in the same straw rain cape and hat. As usual, the egrets returned—some even landed on his hat. But this time, one unlucky egret couldn’t escape.

When the other egrets saw their companion caught, they fled in fear. Flapping its wings desperately, the trapped egret cried, “Fake! Fake!”

“Before, it was fake,” the man mocked. “Now how can you say it’s still fake?”