The Fool, in his Aspect as Transformer, was walking along a small dirt road on Earth and enjoying the flowers
and trees when he met a small boy carrying a bird cage.
"What do you have there, young man?" He asked with a grin.
The boy looked at him sideways, and then said, "Some birds."
"What kind of birds?" said the Fool.
"Some wild birds. I caught 'em," replied the child.
"And why did you catch these wild birds?" asked the Fool. "Wouldn't you rather they stayed free?"
The boy sniggered and said, "I caught 'em to play with them. I'll hold them in my hand, and maybe pull
out their feathers. They're pretty stupid to allow themselves to get caught."
The Fool smiled sadly, and said "What will you do with them after you are finished playing with them?
Will you set them free?"
"Heck no!" said the boy. "I'll kill 'em. Probably drown 'em. They;re just birds after all. Not worth anything."
"Oh, I don't know about that," said the Fool. "I'll give you twenty dollars for them right now."
"TWENTY DOLLARS?" shouted the boy, "You must be nuts!"
"Maybe so, but here's a twenty dollar bill right now .... but you gotta give me the cage too."
The boy looked at the Fool for a long time, and then said, "But then I can't catch any more birds ...."
"Yep," said the Fool, "But twenty dollars is still twenty dollars."
The boy thought about it for a long time, and then gave the Fool the cage with the wild birds.
"Gimme my money," he demanded.
The Fool handed over the money, and watched as the boy ran off down the road.
Then He walked over to the nearest trees, and set the birds free. They flew around his head in joy,
and then flew off into the protection of the woods.
The Nymph looked at the Fool quizzically. "Is that one of those parabolas?" she
asked.
"That's 'parable,' dearest," replied the Fool, "And yes, it was."
"So what was that all about?" She asked.
"Oh, don't worry about it," He said, "those with ears to hear with will know."
Thus it was, and so it is, and evermore shall be so!
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