One Drop Against the Fire

A parrot left its own home and flew to another mountain. The birds and animals living there all loved it very much. “This is a nice place,” thought the parrot, “but it’s not my home.” A few days later it said good-bye to them.

Several months after its return the mountain caught fire. Seeing this, the parrot loaded its feathers with water, flew to the top of the mountain, and flapped its wings to sprinkle water on the fire. When the Heavenly God saw this, he asked the parrot, “How can you possibly put out the fire with so little water?”

“I know,” the parrot answered, “but I once lived here and everyone treated me like a brother. It breaks my heart to see this mountain on fire. I’ll do all that I can to help them put out the fire.”

Moved by what the parrot said, the Heavenly God helped it put out the fire.