Once upon a time a sparrow couple decided to make their nest on a tall tree in the countryside. They worked hard to build a nest which was spacious and comfortable for the two of them. A few weeks after the nest was built, the female sparrow laid two eggs. Both the sparrows were very happy. They took turns to sit on the eggs to keep them warm. While one of them would be sitting on the eggs, the other one would fly out in search of water. They expected the eggs to hatch soon and were really excited about having fledglings of their own.
Very close to the tree, where the sparrows were busy building their own little world, lived a wild elephant. The elephant was very proud of his strength. So much so that he would trample smaller plants and animals under his feet just to display his might. All the animals were afraid of him and did not want to annoy him. They did not dare to cross his path lest he might kill them.
One day, when the elephant was coming after taking a bath in the nearby lake, his eyes fell on the tall tree. He saw that the tree was much taller than him and looked strong. He had always thought of himself as the strongest amongst all plants and animals. The fact that the tree was much taller than him made him uneasy. He decided to decimate the tree.
With all his might, the elephant started hitting the tree. While the tree stood its ground, its branches started shaking. The tree was home to not just the sparrows but to many other birds as well. When the birds saw their homes shaking and about to be destroyed, they went to the elephant and pleaded with him to not shake the tree. The sparrows too joined the pleading birds. They even told the elephant about the eggs in their nest which would fall and break if he did not stop.
But the elephant was adamant. He paid no attention to the poor birds and continued to hit hard at the tree trunk. The sparrows cried helplessly and pleaded repeatedly. But in vain. Their nest fell off the tree along with the eggs, and broke.
The sparrows were devastated to see this. They had built all their dreams around the soon-to-be-born fledglings. And now all their dreams were broken. Many other birds living on that tree lost their homes and eggs too.
The elephant soon grew tired of hitting the tree and decided to finish the task some other day.
The birds decided to get rid of the elephant. But they felt helpless as the elephant was too big for them to do any harm. They decided to take help from the wise owl and at once set out for the owl’s shack.
The owl listened to them patiently. He assured them that he would think of some way to get rid of the elephant by the next morning. All the birds returned to the tree, heartbroken but hopeful.
Next day, the owl came to the tall tree with his three friends, – a mosquito, a frog and a woodpecker. He told the birds about his plan and his friends, who would help him execute the plan.
That day, in the afternoon, when the elephant sat under a shady tree after his meal, the mosquito went near him and started singing a song. The elephant liked the song and closed his eyes with joy. The woodpecker immediately pecked and pierced both eyes of the elephant.
The elephant cried out loudly in pain. Blood trickled out of his eyes. Eyes closed, he ran towards the lake to wash his eyes. The frog was waiting for this moment. Sitting beside a huge pit of rocks, he started croaking loudly . The elephant heard the frog and thought that the lake was in that direction. He ran towards the sound.
As the owl had expected, he fell into the pit and died.
The birds cheered loudly. While they could not get back what they had lost, they made sure that their homes and other animals in the forest faced no danger in future from the elephant.
As for the sparrows, they too decided to start anew.
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