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XII
STORY OF THE BIRD THAT WAS FAINT WITH THIRST
| A BIRD was faint with thirst, | 1145 |
| The breath in his body was heaving like waves of smoke. | |
| He saw a diamond in the garden: | |
| Thirst created a vision of water. | |
| Deceived by the sun bright stone | |
| The foolish bird fancied that it was water. | 1150 |
| He got no moisture from the gem: | |
| He pecked it with his beak, but it did not wet his palate. | |
| "O thrall of vain desire," said the diamond. | |
| Thou hast sharpened thy greedy beak on me; | |
| But lam not a dew drop, I give no drink, | 1155 |
| I do not live for the sake of others. | |
| Wouldst thou hurt me? Thou art mad! | |
| A lie that reveals the Self is strange to thee. | |
| MY water will shiver the beaks of birds | |
| And break the jewel of man's like."91 | 1160 |
| The bird won not his heart's wish from the diamond | |
| And turned away from the sparkling stone. | |
| Disappointment swelled in his breast, | |
| The song in his throat became a wail. | |
| Upon a rose-twig a drop of dew | 1165 |
| Gleamed like the tear in a nightingale's eye: | |
| All its glitter was owing to the sun, | |
| It was trembling in fear ' Of the sun—A restless sky born star | |
| That had stopped for a moment, from desire to be seen; | 1170 |
| Oft deceived by bud and flower, | |
| It had gained nothing from Life. | |
| There it hung, ready to drop. | |
| Like a tear on the eyelashes of a lover who hath lost his heart. | |
| The sorely distressed bird hopped under the rose-bush. | 1175 |
| The dewdrop trickled into his mouth. | |
| O thou that wouldst deliver thy soul from enemies. | |
| I ask thee "Art thou a drop of water or a gem ?" | |
| When the bird melted in the fire of thirst, | |
| It appropriated the life of another. | 1180 |
| The drop was not solid and gem-like; | |
| The diamond had a being, the drop had none. | |
| Never for an instant neglect Self-preservation: | |
| Be a diamond, not a dewdrop! | |
| Be massive in nature, like mountains, | 1185 |
| And bear on thy crest a hundred clouds laden with floods of rain! | |
| Save thyself by affirmation of Self, | |
| Compress thy quick silver into silver ore! | |
| Produce a melody from the string of Self, | |
| Make manifest the secrets of Self! | 1190 |
