Unaware of the traps laid, the whole flock was caught as they flew out after the rest.
國王高興地交代僕眾：「將這群鳥關起來，每天餵牠們糙米，等養肥了之後，我要殺來宴請所有大臣。」
The king happily instructed his servants: “Lock those birds up and feed them daily with coarse rice. When they are plump enough, I will feast on them with my senior officials.”
鳥王知道國王的企圖後，難過地自責懺悔：「因為我的疏忽，帶領整個鳥群誤入國王的園子裏，而使大家身陷鳥籠之中；再過不久，國王看到鳥群長肥了，每一個同伴都會喪命，現在我該如何是好啊？……」
After finding out the king’s intention, the leader felt sad, self-reproached and contrite : ”It’s my careless fault which led to all of us crossing into the royal garden and got encaged. As soon as the king sees that we are fat enough, we will be killed, what should I do?....”
米飯送來了，鳥王靈機一動告訴大家說：「大家如果想要活命，就不要吃！」「不吃東西一定會餓死，這樣怎麼能活命呢？」鳥群們議論紛紛。
When the rice was delivered, an idea suddenly flashed in the leader’s mind and he told his flock: “Don’t eat if you want to survive this!” “We will starve to death if we don’t eat, how can we survive?”, the pigeons wondered.
鳥王說：「人類有一句話說：『鳥為食亡！』國王的目的就是要將我們養胖，如果我們一直吃，身軀一定會肥胖起來，屆時，國王一定會將我們宰殺來吃；所以，請大家這幾天忍耐不要吃東西，等我們將身軀縮小了，說不定還有逃命的機會。」
The leader replied: “Humans have a proverb – birds die for their feeds. The king’s intention is to fatten us first. If we continue eating, that would happen, and then the king will slaughter us for food. Consequently, I plead you all to restrain from food these few days. After we have shrunk in size, there might be a chance to escape.”
五百隻鳥向來都是聽從鳥王的命令，果真乖乖地禁食。
Since those pigeons always followed their leader’s orders, they fasted willingly.
看顧鳥籠的人，每天都送進了充足的糙米，卻一點也沒有被動過的痕跡。鳥王天天思考著，如何才能讓五百隻鳥，安全地自鳥籠裏脫逃？牠發現鳥籠的上方有一個凹洞，於是，要大家每天在鳥籠上啄一下。幾天下來，鳥籠的洞愈來愈大，鴿鳥們也愈來愈瘦，五百隻鴿鳥在鳥王的指揮下，靜悄無聲地從這個洞飛了出去。
The cage-keeper brought in ample supply of coarse rice each day but none was touched. Every day, the leader thought hard about how to enable 500 pigeons to escape from the cage safely. Finally, he discovered a hole at the top of the cage. He arranged for each to peck at it once a day. After a few days, as the gap got bigger, the pigeons became thinner. Under the command of their leader, the 500 pigeons silently flew out from that opening.
鳥王看著空空的籠子，牠安心了，當牠最後飛離鳥籠，五百隻鳥兒也跟著一起振翅高飛；此時，天空中響起一片悅耳的鳥鳴聲……
Last to leave, the leader looked back at the now empty cage with mind at ease. When finally flew out, he was joined by his flock which filled the sky with resounding chirps.
日常生活中，每一個行為和起心動念，都要縝密慎行；否則疏漏了生活規則，放縱了身行，就苦不堪言了！
In our daily life, “think before we leap” should apply to all our behaviour and emotion. The consequence of neglecting that discipline and indulging ourselves could be grave.
人生的錯誤與苦難，無不都是一念心所造成。守規則，就能平安自在；時時戒慎、步步謹慎，就能擁有幸福平安的人生。
Mistakes and sufferings in lives are all caused by wrong thoughts. Follow rules will ensure safety and peace. Prudence and vigilance will bring us happy and peaceful lives.
Translated by Harry So