Once upon a time, there lived a kind-hearted king. He loved birds and animals, and had a huge bird sanctuary (禁猎区) in his kingdom. He disliked harming the animals and birds. He did not kill them for meat. One day, the king was sent two beautiful birds by a businessman. The king ordered the trainer to make them feel comfortable in their country.
One day, the king saw one bird fly very high, very quickly. However, the other bird just sat on the branch (树枝) and didn't move even a step. The trainer said that he had tried everything he could but still failed to make the bird move. Soon, the king announced that he needed someone to make it move and fly.
A few weeks later, an old man reached the king's palace and assured him that he would make the bird fly like the other one. The king asked the trainer to take the old man to train the bird. The next day, the king went to visit the old man. He was surprised to see the other bird fly like the first one to great height at rapid speed. The king was very happy and sent the old man quite a few gold coins and asked the old man what he had done to make the bird fly in a day.
The old man simply replied, "I just cut down the branch of the tree where the bird used to sit on."
Many of us are like this. We have wings to fly; we know how to fly, and where to fly. Still we sit doing nothing or doing something that makes us inferior (较差的) to others.
