Buddhist picture book: The harmony of the flock of quails

A flock of quails escaped the hunter's nets when they got along. On the contrary, they were caught by the hunter once they argued.

Let's read this meaningful story!

The Buddha recounted the story from one of his past lives as a Bodhisattva, when he was a leader of a flock of quail.

The lead quail was surrounded by thousands of quails living in a forest in Varanasi.

At that time, a bird hunter came along, imitating the call of a quail.

Hearing the sound, the flock gathered in large numbers. The man threw the net and caught them. He put those birds in a basket and sold them to earn money to support his family.

One day, the Bodhisattva (as the lead quail) said to the birds: “This hunter has killed many of our relatives. I now have a plan to prevent him from capturing us.

When he casts the net over your heads, each of you puts your head into a hole in the net and lifts it up together. Then take the net to where you want and lower it onto a thorn bush. By doing so, you will escape from his hunting.”

The next day, when the hunter threw the net, the birds lifted it up just as the Bodhisattva had instructed, dropped it on a thorn bush, and escaped below.

The hunter removed his net from the thorn bush until late afternoon, so he had to return home empty-handed.

In the following days, the hunter also failed to catch any birds because they were too intelligent and harmonious.

The hunter's wife angrily said, “Day after day, you come home empty-handed. Perhaps, you're feeding another nest.”

The bird hunter said: “My dear, don't have any other family to support. The quails live in harmony with one another, so I cannot catch them. But they won't always get along. When they argue, I will catch them al,l and the smile will return to your face.”

One day, while looking for food, a quail accidentally stepped on another's head.

That quail angrily said: “Who stepped on my head?”

The other bird replied: “It was me, but it was unintentional, please don't be angry with me.”

That quail was still very angry: “Do you think you were the only one who lifted the net?”

Then they argued.

When seeing that, the Bodhisattva thought: “If they quarrel with each other, they will no longer be safe. The birds will no longer lift the net, then the hunter will seize the opportunity, and they will be in great trouble.”

Therefore, the Bodhisattva led the harmonious birds to another place.

A few days later, the hunter came, imitated the quails' call, and cast his net over the place where the birds were gathering.

The quails argued and refused to lift the net. So, the hunter caught them all, put them in a basket, and came home, hoping to bring happiness to his wife.

Lesson learned: We should not quarrel, because quarrels are the root of destruction. Don't be like those quails that argued, but instead reflect on ourselves to easily let go and forgive others. We should live in harmony to bring benefits to ourselves and many!

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