The Blind Vulture
This is one of the great short animal stories with moral values for kids. A long time ago, a blind vulture lived in the hollow of the tree on the banks of the river. A number of other birds had also made their nests in the tree. They felt sorry for the vulture and so brought him food every day. In return, the vulture used to look after the chicks when the birds were away in search of food. In this way, all the birds of the tree lived as one community.
One day, a cat passed by the tree. He heard the chirps of the little chicks and thought, “There are so many nests with chicks in them, I can go up and eat them one by one!” He jumped onto the bark of the tree and began climbing up towards the nests. The young birds saw the cat and began chirping in fear. You may also like to read, The Fox And The Crow Story.
Image Source–> www.youtube.com. Hearing their scared voices, the vulture came out of his hole and said, “Who’s there? Go away!” The vulture turned his head side to side. Seeing this, the cat realized that the vulture was blind and decided to fool him. He said, “Sir, I am a cat and I have come here to see you!” “A cat!” said the vulture, stunned. “You will be nothing but trouble.”
The cat pretended to be innocent and said, “No Sir! I have not come here to harm you or the young birds! I want you, a noble soul you are, to be my teacher.” The vulture felt flattered and the cat won the vulture’s, heart. However, the vulture did not trust the cat. He said, “I will be your teacher but I don’t trust you around the young birds. They are not safe around you!” The cat replied, “They are in no danger, Sir. I have given up eating meat and eggs. I have been a complete vegetarian for over a year now!”
When the vulture heard this, he threw caution to the wind and welcomed the cat. Every day, the cat visited the vulture. Slowly, the young birds too began to trust the cat and did not chirp in fear when they went near him. So, the cat began killing a young bird every day. He would eat the young birds and hide the bones in the vulture’s hollow.
Soon, the birds began to notice that their precious babies were missing. They held a meeting to decide what they should do. The birds began looking around for clues and went to ask the vulture if he knew anything about their babies. The cat found out that the birds were suspicious and so quickly left the place. Also, read The Thirsty Crow.
On reaching the vulture’s hollow, they found the bones of the dead fledglings and were very angry. They thought that the vulture was eating their babies and attacked and pushed him out of his home. The blind bird realized that it was the cat that had killed the young birds and said, “Oh, what a fool I have been! This is what has come from my blind faith in the cat.” But it was much too late as he fell from the tree to his death.
Here is a visual depiction of one of the short animal stories with moral values, “The Blind Vulture”. See the video story below,