Winning arguments is not real victory

This story happens to be the best that I have heard so far. I have heard my father narrate this story when I was a kid, and then when my children were kids!

Once upon a time there was a sparrow. The sparrow was pecking through dirt when he suddenly hit upon a gold coin. He was very thrilled and went straight to the king with the coin. For the little sparrow the gold coin was a huge wealth and he thought he had become richer than the king!

"I have a gold coin, do you have one?"

He went to the court room where the king was seated on his throne. He called out to the king and when the king looked at him, he went on chanting with a dance, “I have a gold coin, do you have one?” The King was silent for a few minutes, but soon he got angered and ordered the guards to snatch the gold coin from the sparrow.

Instantly the guards caught hold of the bird and took the gold coin from the beak of the dancing bird. The bird was silent for some time and then again started dancing, this time chanting, “The King does not have a gold coin so he snatched the one from my beak!” Now the king was really angry and screamed at the guards to throw the coin back at the bird. Obeying the kings’ orders, the guards threw the gold coin back at the bird.

The King almost heaved a sigh of relief, when the bird started dancing again. This time he paused and ensured that all eyes in the king’s court were on him. Once he had the court’s attention on him, he started mocking the king saying, “The king is so scared of me that he gave the coin back to me.”

The bird was so elated with his own wit and went on dancing and making fun of the king. The king could contain himself no longer. As he rose from his throne in rage, one of his ministers, who had beaten the odds of life through his wisdom, walked up to the king.He whispered something gently into the king’s ears. After the minister took his seat, the king clapped and told all his men to clap for the lovely bird for entertaining the court. The King then aptly rewarded the bird with another gold coin. His ego badly bruised, the bird left the court without another word. 

When the court met all of them were curious to know what the minister had told the king. Soon, the King addressed the court. He thanked the old minister for his timely advice. The minister had told the King that winning arguments was not real victory!

Winning arguments is not real victory!