Far away on the road to Ujjayini was a large tree on which a heron and a crow lived. One day, a traveller carrying a bow and arrows sat down to rest under the tree on his way to the city. He put down his bow and arrows and was so tired that he soon fell asleep. The sun rose high and the day was hot. As it moved across the sky, its rays fell directly on the face of the sleeping traveller. The heron, who had been away for a while, returned and saw the traveller fast asleep under the tree where he lived. He felt very sorry for him with the sun falling on his face. ‘Poor fellow,’ thought the heron, ‘He must be tired, so he does not even realise that the sun is falling directly on his face!’
The Heron, the Crow and the Traveller
