Chapter 44
A swallow built her nest under the eaves of a court of justice, and before her young ones could fly, a serpent slid out of his bole and ate them all up. When the poor bird returned to her nest and found it empty, she began to wail in a most pitiful way. However, neighbor sought to comfort her by remarking that she was not the first bird who had lost her young.
“True,” she replied, “but it is not only my little ones whom I mourn, but the fact that I was wronged in the very place to which the injured fly for justice.’
Only the naïve expect the holy places to be bereft of sins.
