The Doves and the Hunter’s Net

On the bank of the Godavery stood a huge silk-cotton tree where birds came from every direction to roost at night. Very early one morning, a crow called Light o’ Leap, who lived in the tree, woke to see a bird-catcher coming, and he flew after the man to see what mischief he was planning.

The bird-catcher spread out a net, sprinkled grains of rice over the ground and went off to hide. Just then Speckle-neck, King of the Doves, came flying past with his whole court, and they all saw the rice below.

“How could there be rice lying about in a lonely forest where nobody comes?” said King Speckle-neck. “We will look into it, of course, but I don’t like it. Love of rice could ruin us, just as love of a golden bangle ruined the greedy traveller whom the tiger caught.”

But the doves were hungry, and one of them said that if they always waited for a prophet to tell them whether it was safe, they would never get any dinner at all. Hearing that, the whole flock flew straight down onto the rice, and in a moment they were all caught in the net.

At once they began to scold the dove whose words had led them into the trap. But King Speckle-neck stopped them. “No, no, it is not his fault,” he said. “When trouble comes, it is often our friends we blame most. Being afraid in a disaster is a coward’s way. Let us be brave instead and find a way out.

“Here is what we will do. All together, at the same moment, let us rise up under the net and fly away with it. Little things become very strong when they work together. Even a wild elephant can be tied up with a rope made of blades of grass twisted together.”

The doves thought about his advice and did as he said. They rose up together and flew away, carrying the net with them. The bird-catcher, watching from a distance, hoped at first to get them back. But when they flew out of sight with his net, he gave up the chase.

“What shall we do now, King?” asked the doves.

“A friend of mine lives close by, in a lovely forest on the Gundaki river,” said Speckle-neck. “His name is Golden-skin, King of the Mice. He is the one to cut these cords.”

So they flew to Golden-skin’s home. He was a careful king who was so afraid of danger that he had built himself a palace with a hundred ways out, and he always stayed inside it. When he heard the doves landing, he kept very still and silent, full of fear.

“Friend Golden-skin,” called Speckle-neck, “have you no welcome for us?”

The King of the Mice knew that voice and came rushing out. “Ah, my friend Speckle-neck, it’s you! How wonderful! But what is this?” he cried, staring at the tangled net.

“This,” said Speckle-neck, “must be the result of some wrong I did in an earlier life.”

Without a word Golden-skin ran to the net and began to nibble at the cords holding Speckle-neck.

“No, my friend, not like that,” said the dove king. “Cut my followers free first, and then you can cut me loose.”

“But I am small, and my teeth are weak,” said Golden-skin. “How can I gnaw through so much? I will bite through your cords while my teeth last, and then do my best for the others. Wise teachers never say you should sacrifice yourself to save those who serve you. They say the opposite: a person should guard his own life above all.”

“That may be clever advice,” said Speckle-neck, “but I cannot bear to see those who depend on me in trouble. If death must come, it is a noble death that comes while saving others.”

When Golden-skin heard this, his heart was won, and his fur stood up with pure delight. “Nobly said, my friend, nobly said!” he cried. “Anyone who cares so tenderly for those who look to him deserves to rule all three worlds.” And he set to work and cut through every one of the cords.

When all the doves were free, the King of the Mice welcomed them properly. “But Your Majesty,” he said to Speckle-neck, “being caught in the net was simply fate. You must not blame yourself or think it was a punishment for some old wrong. Even the eagle, soaring high in the noon sky, can see his food far below, yet when his hour comes, even he rushes blindly into a snare.”

Then Golden-skin treated his guests with every kindness. At last he hugged them goodbye, the doves flew off wherever they wished, and the King of the Mice went back into his hole.

About this telling

This is the opening tale of the Hitopadesa, the Sanskrit “Book of Good Counsels,” in Sir Edwin Arnold’s translation. The sage Vishnu-Sarman begins the first part of the book, “The Winning of Friends,” with this story, and the crow Light o’ Leap, who watches it all, goes on to make friends with the Mouse King in the tales that follow.

Arnold calls the birds pigeons; this page keeps the name doves. In Arnold’s source, Speckle-neck tells a fable about a tiger and a greedy traveller. This page refers to that episode and links its separate retelling below. Many of the verses the birds and the mouse quote are given here in plain words.

Read the original: Sir Edwin Arnold, The Book of Good Counsels from the Hitopadesa (Project Gutenberg #13268, the Pigeons and the Net)

Best for all ages — the famous Hitopadesa tale of doves who escape a net by working together, and a mouse who helps a friend.

Flying away is only half the rescue

The doves can lift the net together, but their wings cannot cut its cords. Golden-skin contributes a different ability, so the second stage depends on friendship across differences rather than more of the same effort. Speckle-neck then refuses to let his rank put him first. His leadership is shown in what he gives up, as well as in the plan he proposes.

The mouse also rejects the king’s assumption that disaster proves a past wrongdoing. The discussion contains differing explanations, not a single instruction to blame people for misfortune.

Build a two-stage plan

Draw the net leaving the hunter and the cords being cut at the mouse’s home. Label what each helper can and cannot do. Why does success in the first scene still require the second?

Talk about it

• How did the doves escape from the bird-catcher?
• Why did Speckle-neck want his followers freed first?
• Can you think of something that is easy to do together but hard to do alone?

Related stories

• The Story of the Tiger and the Traveller — the fable Speckle-neck tells inside this tale
• The Story of the Jackal, Deer, and Crow — the next Hitopadesa tale, told by the Mouse King to the crow
• The Story of the Vulture, the Cat, and the Birds — another tale from the first part of the Hitopadesa