In the time of king Solomon, the best of kings, a man bought a nightingale with an unparalleled voice.
He put it into a cage where the bird did not miss anything and it sand for hours to the delight of the people around it. One day when the cage was taken on a balcony another bird approached it and whispered something and flew away.
From that moment the wonderful nightingale remained mute without voice. Overwhelmed by despair the man took the bird to king Solomon, who knew the language of the animals and birds and pleaded to ask her why it did not want to sing anymore.
The bird said the following to Solomon:
Before I didn`t know anything about hunters or cages. Afterwards they put a wisely made trap for me and I fell in it because of my greed. The bird catcher caught me and sold me at the fair taking me away from my family.
I found myself in the cage of this man you see before you. I cried day and night but the man thought that my wails were songs of gratefulness and joy.
Until ine day another bird came to me and told me :
`Don`t cry anymore because for this reason they keep you in the cage. They understand differently your cry.`
Then I decided to keep silent.
Solomon translated the words of the bird for the man. This one on his way back stood and thought: `What is the use to keep a nightingale who doesn`t sing at all?`
And set her free from her cage…
This is what happens sometimes to men: they are captives of their own words, attitudes, life choices and behaviours and they free themselves only by silence, restraints and wisdom!
Source: Skete of Saint Elijah
