Once there were two best buddies named Jack and Ben. Jack was a great bibliophile, and Ben was a very dynamic and motivational speaker. Every day in school, they exchanged their ideas on studies and got good grades in the examination. Only after reaching home, they both had a complication for the interchange of ideas, as their houses were far away from each other.

Every day after reaching home, Jack spent most of his leisure time in reading books. He loved to read books about beasts and birds. He was also fretting about how to send messages to his beloved friend, Ben, as their exams were starting in a few weeks. Ben was also feeling sad in the absence of his friend.

But a time went by and after gaining information about all the animals, Jack embarked on accumulating information about birds. When he turned to the page about pigeons, he was spellbound. He learned that a pigeon can be utilized as a messenger, and had a unique ability to learn routes back to their home from long distances.

After gaining information about the pigeon, he got an idea to deliver messages to his friend. He thought that he could use a pigeon to deliver messages to his friend. He then started thinking about how to catch a pigeon.

On the very next day, he decided to catch a pigeon. On the previous day, he had learned that pigeons seem to favor shelled peanuts, grains, and sunflower seeds. As he had a very big garden in his house, he took some shelled peanuts and grains from his mother. He laid them on the ground of the garden and waited for the arrival of the pigeon.

A pigeon was living near Jack’s house. Every day there was a problem of scarcity of food for the pigeon. He was flying here and there, searching for food. He felt very feeble and struggled to fly. After searching for a long time, he saw the shelled peanuts and grains on the garden kept by Jack and flew straight down to the garden. Jack saw the pigeon eating the grains and peanuts in the garden and began offering some more food for the pigeon. The pigeon thought of establishing friendship with Jack to overcome the problem of scarcity of food.

The pigeon asked him, “Oh my friend, I encounter a problem of shortage of food every day. Can you offer food to me every day?”

Jack replied, “Oh, sure I will feed you. But I too possess a problem of delivering messages to my friend whose house is far away.”

The pigeon responded, “I will take care of your problem. Don’t worry.”

Jack replied, “Sounds good. Thank you very much.”

On the very next day, Jack wrote a message on a light, thin paper, rolled it into a small tube and attached to the bird’s leg as written in the book. He indicated the way for the pigeon to reach his friend’s house.

At Ben’s house, the pigeon tapped on the window. Ben was awestruck at seeing the pigeon with a message.

The pigeon told Ben, “Hi. I am one of the best friends of Jack. It’s very nice to meet you. He asked me to deliver this message and return with a reply from you. ”

Ben replied, “Hello. My name is Ben. You have solved my difficulty of feeling sad in the absence of my friend. Thank you very much, and it is nice to meet you too.”

The pigeon responded, “You are welcome.”

Ben detached the tube from the bird’s leg, read the message and felt happy. He also wrote a reply on a small, thin paper, rolled it into the tube and attached it to the bird’s leg, then offered some seeds for the pigeon to eat.

The pigeon returned to Jack with the reply. Jack read the message and felt delighted.

From that day, Jack and the pigeon became very good friends and cooperated with each other. Every day, Jack and Ben were exchanging their messages with the help of the pigeon and were getting good marks in the examination. The pigeon was also elated with their happiness. Jack created a special bird house for the pigeon and was offering food every day for the token of its service. The pigeon was healthy and well fed.

One day while delivering the message, the pigeon saw an eagle killing a sparrow for its lunch. The eagle flew up the sky and with its keen eyes spotted the sparrow and attacked the sparrow with sharp claws. The eagle finished its lunch by tearing the sparrow into pieces and swallowing it. After observing that, the pigeon was reminded to be careful in life.

A crow was living nearer to Ben’s house. Every day the crow had to kill an animal or a bird to satisfy its own hunger. He had a habit of daydreaming about the future. One day, he observed the healthy and fattened pigeon delivering message to Ben. The crow had never seen such a pigeon anywhere, and its mouth started watering. He kept an ambition in mind to eat the pigeon. As he was not starving at that time, he decided to wait until the next day to catch the pigeon. He was also dreaming about the pigeon at nighttime while he was sleeping.

On the very next day, the crow was waiting for the arrival of the pigeon. He slowly closed his eyes and thought about the future as if he was eating the pigeon. Meanwhile, the pigeon delivered the message and was about to go home. The crow opened its eyes and observed the pigeon returning home. The crow slowly followed in such a way to avoid the pigeon from noticing.

The pigeon returned home and was happily relaxing by eating the peanuts offered by Jack. The crow quietly stood at the back of the pigeon and caught hold of the pigeon’s tail with its beak. The pigeon hadn't noticed the crow behind it. Horrified, the pigeon tried to escape by brandishing its wings, and by god’s grace finally succeeded.

After the end of that situation both were worrying about the failure of their aims. The pigeon had got a small cut on its leg. On the other hand, the crow was thinking about the other ways to gulp the pigeon. After thinking for a long time, the crow thought of establishing friendship with the pigeon to consume it.

On the very next day, while Jack was attaching the message to the pigeon’s leg, he saw the wounded region and felt sad. He did first aid for the pigeon by applying a bandage and advised it to take some rest for that day. He fed foods like wheat, peas, canary grass seeds which will provide nutrients as written in the book.

The pigeon was thinking about the reason for its failure to overcome its weaknesses. After encountering the failure, the pigeon was confident to be successful in its life. On the other hand, the crow waited for the arrival of the pigeon.

After waiting for two days, the crow became tensed about the departure of the pigeon. The pigeon’s leg healed and it returned to work delivering messages to Ben. The pigeon delivered the message and was on its way returning home.

The crow, relieved to see the pigeon after it was away for two days, went about establishing friendship with the pigeon. He started following at his back in a noticeable way.

The pigeon noticed the crow and asked, “Oh my friend, why are you following me?”

The crow lied in reply: “Sir, I like you very much, and I admire your calm and regular way of life. Every day I am observing you delivering messages to your friends. You serve a great purpose to this life. I too possess a problem of delivering messages to my friend. Would you help me?”

The pigeon replied, “Oh, sure. I will help you. After I return this reply to my beloved friend Jack, I will be free to assist you.”

The pigeon was somewhat dubious about the crow after the end of that situation. He invited the crow to his house and shared the food offered by Jack. The crow thanked the pigeon, but while eating, his entire concentration was on the pigeon and he didn't find the food tasty. He was thinking the entire time about how to trap the pigeon and gulp him. Finally, he thought of inviting the pigeon to his nest to eat him.

The crow invited the pigeon to its nest to deliver the message. Both flew up the sky to reach the crow’s nest. Meanwhile, the pigeon was trying to recognize whether the crow was trying to trap him. The crow started daydreaming about its future as if he was eating the pigeon and its mouth started watering.

The pigeon became wary as he realized that the crow was planning to eat him. After thinking for a long time, the pigeon came up with a plan to escape. In a confident way, he addressed the crow.

“Oh my friend, I will gladly accept your task that has to be performed. But my friend asked me to get a reply from Ben as he has an important exam tomorrow. He also said that if I don’t bring it, he will kill me. I request you to give me some time so that I will be recovered from danger.”

The crow replied, “OK, but please go and come fast. My work is also very important.”

Finally, the intelligent pigeon escaped from the crow and laughed all the way home. The crow had nothing to do but repent for his foolishness at being tricked by the pigeon. From that day, the pigeon laughed whenever he thought of that brainless crow. He also related the experience to Jack and Ben, and they too enjoyed it.

Conclusion

1. Failures are the stepping stones to success.
2. Live in the present instead of daydreaming about the future.