Once upon a time, there was a sparrow who disliked flying south for the winter
He dreaded the thought of leaving his comfortable home so much that he decided
he would postpone the journey until the last minute.
After bidding farewell to all his friends, he went back to his nest and remained
there for an additional four weeks.
Finally, the weather turned very cold and he could delay his departure
no longer. As he took off and headed south, it began to rain heavily. In a very
short time, ice began to collect on his wings.
Almost collapsing from cold and exhaution, he fell to the earth in a muddy barnyard.
As he was gasping for breath, a cow sauntered out of the barn and gently covered
the sparrow with piles of shit.
At first, the sparrow could think of nothing except this was an ugly way to
die. But, as the shit slowly settled into his feathers, it comforted him and
new life returned to his dying body.
He found that he had room to breathe, and suddenly he became so happy and grateful
that he started to sing.
At that moment, a cat came into the barnyard and hearing the chirping of the
sparrow, began digging into the warm shit to find out where the chirping sound
was coming from.
The cat finally uncovered the sparrow and gulped him down in one swallow.