Week 14 Story: The Quail and His Farmer

A quail. Source: Wikimedia

The Giant Crab and Other Tales from Old India, by W. H. D. Rouse.

There was once a lazy quail that lived on a farm.  He would lounge around all day while the farmer worked and when the farmer was finished, the quail would meander around the field collecting food that had been churned up by the farmer.  It was an easy laid back life and the quail had nothing to worry about in the world.  One day, the quail decided that he no longer wanted to pick scraps from what the farmer would dig up during his work.  The quail wanted to taste fresh and new food instead of the same old stuff all the time.  He decides that he will go into the forest in search of fantastic new delights for him to feast upon.
He set out from the farmers land with a smile on his face and a skip in his step, thinking of all the delicious foods waiting for him in the forest.  On his way there he happened to be spotted by a great falcon.  The falcon sees the easy unsuspecting meal and decides to capitalize on the quail's situation.  The falcon swoops down and grabs the quail with his mighty claws in an instant.  Before the quail knew what was going on, he was up 100 feet in the air in the grasp of the falcon.  The quail started to scream out about his plight and what had led him into this situation.  If he hadn't been greedy and stayed on the farm, he would be just fine.  The falcon hears this and issues the quail a challenge.  The falcon wanted to prove that no matter where the quail was he could capture him.  He lets the quail go on his farm and tells him to prepare himself.  The falcon then flies up into the air and begins his nose dive towards the quail.  Just before the quail was to be captured again, the farmer stepped in and batted the falcon away.  The farmer was apparently quite fond of the quail and did not want him harmed.  When the falcon recovered from the blow he flew off in fear of being attacked again.  The quail never realized the farmer cared for him so much and was ultimately overjoyed that he now realized how good he has it on the farm.  The quail decides that he should never forget this lesson and be happy with the life he has, while he has it.

Author's Note:  I decided to give the farmer a roll in the story and to make the quail's lesson that much more apparent about appreciating what you have.