There is Nothing New under the Sun

Photograph: G Cooper. The Cabrach.

The King of the Cuckoos had done a wicked thing. If he was aware of the crime to begin with, it wasn’t long before he had forgotten it. Like most of his kind, he thought that he was always in the right. When the matter came to a head, however, his advisor, the small pipit, went to speak to the king – he had a little story to tell him.

The pipit bowed to the king. ‘Your Majesty,’ he said, ‘there were two birds in the same copse of trees, one of them a big and magnificent bird like yourself, and one a small and insignificant creature like me.’

The pipit glanced at the king.

‘Keep going, please, my lad,’ said the King of the Cuckoos.

‘The small bird found himself a mate,’ said the pipit, ‘and, in spring, they built a nest. They chose a good place, high in the branches of the same oak tree in which their own parents, and their parents before them, had nested. What a lot of work they did, day after day, adding twigs and moss to the nest until it was ready. Weren’t they proud of it! And in the fullness of time, the female bird laid three eggs and placed them carefully in the nest.

‘The big bird, however, didn’t want to build a nest. Wasn’t he the biggest bird in the copse? He could do as he liked. He asked his mate to lay an egg in the small birds’ nest beside their three eggs. The small birds saw the new egg and although they weren’t entirely sure where it had come from, they were happy that they had an extra one.  

‘When the four chicks appeared, the interloping chick was by far the biggest. He used his strength to throw the other chicks out of the nest. They fell to the ground and died. Not that they had done anything wrong, it was just that the interloper wanted all the food that the small parent birds were bringing to the nest for himself.

‘Meanwhile, the big bird took it easy and enjoyed the summer warmth. He didn’t give a thought to his ruthlessness or to how he had brought the small birds’ efforts to nothing.’

When the King of the Cuckoos heard this, he was furious at the big bird. ‘Never before have I heard the like of this,’ he shouted. ‘I am the king, and surely this bird will be banished from the wood.’

The pipit took a step back.

Pointing the tip of his small wing at the king, he said, ‘You are the bird!’