The Little Bird (1)

The Little Bird (1)

Once long ago in Ireland, a holy man was walking one day in the garden of his monastery, when he decided to pray to give thanks to God for the beauty of all the flowers, plants and herbs around him.

As he did so, he heard a small bird singing the sweetest song he had never heard.

When the bird flew away from the garden, singing as it went, he followed it.

The bird continued its song in a small glove of trees outside the monastery grounds.

As the bird hopped from tree to tree, the monk carried on following the little creature, until they had gone a great distance.

(1/5)

The Little Bird (2)

The Little Bird (2)

The more the bird sang, the more the monk was enchanted by the music it made.

The monk realized that it would soon be night-time.
Reluctantly, he retracted his step arriving back home as the sun was going down in the west.

As the sun set, the sky was lit with all the colors of the rainbow, and the monk thought it was almost as beautiful and heavenly as the little bird's song he had been listening to.

But the glorious sunset was not the only sight that surprised the monk.

Everything around him seemed changed.

Different plants grew in the garden the brothers had different faces and even the abbey buildings seemed changed.

How could all these changes have taken place in an afternoon ?

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The Little Bird (3)

The Little Bird (3)

The holy man walked across the courtyard and greeted the first monk he saw.

" Brother, how is it that our abbey has changed so much since this morning ? There are fresh plants in the garden, new faces amongst us, and even the stones of the church seem different. "

The second monk looked at him carefully.

" Nothing has altered since morning, and we have no new brothers here ー except for yourself, for though you wear the habit of our order, I have not seen you before. "

And the two monks looked at each other in wonder.

Neither knew what had happened.

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The Little Bird (4)

The Little Bird (4)

When he puzzled, the holy man started to tell his story, how he had gone to walk in the monastery garden, how he had heard the bird, and  how he had followed the creature far into the countryside to listen to its song.

As he spoke the expression on the second monk's face turned from puzzlement to surprise.

He said, "There is a story in our order about a brother who went missing after a bird was heard singing. he never returned, and no one knew what befell him, and all this happened two hundred years ago. "

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The Little Bird (5 完)

The Little Bird (5 完)

The holy man looked at his companion and replied, " That is indeed my story. The time of my death has finally arrived. Praised be the Lord for his mercies to me. "

The second monk took his confession and gave him absolution, and the holy man died before midnight, and was buried with great solemnity in the abbey church.

Ever since, the monks of the abbey have told this story.

They say that the little bird was an angel of the Lord, and that this was God's way of taking the soul of a man who was known for his holiness and his love of the beauties of nature.

(5/5 完)