Tink-tinkje

Tink-tinkje

One day the birds gathered in a great clearing and began to argue about which of them should be their leader.

“Ostrich!” someone suggested. “He is the biggest.”

“Big, that is true,” said others. “But he cannot fly. A leader of birds ought to know the sky.”

“Then Eagle! He is strong.”

“Strength is useful, but a strong wing alone is not enough to lead everyone wisely.”

“Peacock! Look how bright he is!”

“Fine feathers do not make a good king.”

“Owl! She sees wonderfully in the dark.”

“But in daylight she likes to sleep.”

The birds talked and talked, but could not agree.

At last someone cried, “Let us have a contest! Whoever flies the highest shall be named the winner.”

Everyone became excited.

“Agreed! Agreed!”

Among the great flock sat tiny Tink-tinkje. He was so light that the thin branch beneath his feet scarcely bent.

Tink-tinkje looked at the broad wings of the large birds and said quietly to himself, “If I fly only by my own strength, I cannot catch them. I must think of something.”

While everyone was preparing for the start, he quietly fastened himself to a great feather of the vulture and hid so well that no one noticed him.

At the signal, the birds took flight.

At first the sky was full of wings. Then some birds grew tired and returned to the ground. Others followed. Higher still, only the hardiest remained.

The vulture flew upward for a very long time. At last no rival remained beneath him.

“I am higher than all!” he cried. “So I have won!”

Then, just above his head, came a tiny sound.

“Cheep-cheep-cheep! But I am even higher!”

The vulture looked up in surprise. Above him circled Tink-tinkje.

“Where did you come from?”

The little bird only chirped merrily.

“Cheep-cheep-cheep!”

The vulture gathered his last strength and flew still higher.

“Now I am certainly the highest!”

But Tink-tinkje slipped out from under the great wing again and appeared half a wingbeat above him.

“Cheep-cheep-cheep! I am here!”

When all the birds returned to the clearing, they quickly understood how Tink-tinkje had gained his advantage.

“That is not fair!” they murmured. “You did not fly the whole way by yourself!”

Tink-tinkje understood that he was in trouble. He darted into a little mouse hole and hid.

“Let him come out and explain what he did,” the birds decided. “We must set someone to guard the hole.”

“Owl!” they all said. “She has large, watchful eyes.”

Owl settled by the hole and promised not to blink.

But the sun was warm. The grass smelled sweet. Insects hummed over the clearing.

Owl blinked once.

Then a second time.

And a minute later, she quietly fell asleep.

Tink-tinkje cautiously put out his beak.

Silence.

He put out his head.

Owl was asleep.

“Cheep-cheep!” he chirped, and flashed out of the hole.

When the other birds returned, the little trickster was already sitting high in a tree.

“Cheep-cheep-cheep!” his call sounded among the branches.

The birds began clamouring again. Some were angry, some laughed, and some demanded a new contest.

Only White Crow turned away and said, “I have had enough of these arguments. I shall not say another word.”

And the old tale says that White Crow has been silent ever since.

As for a king, the birds did not choose one that day. For they suddenly understood that flying higher than everyone else does not mean being the best for everyone.

Tink-tinkje learned something else: cleverness may lift you above others for a moment, but trust must be earned with your own wings.

May this story leave a little light in your heart ✨