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THE ART OF POSITIVE THINKING
A king went out for a stroll in the forest. He passed through a thieves' hamlet. Before a cottage hung a cage with a parrot in it. The moment the parrot saw the king, it blurted out. "A traveller! A traveller! Come and rob him. Come at once. He's going away. Be quick!" The king heard the parrot speak and was surprised. He accelerated his pace and got out of the thicving neighbourhood.
After traversing a long distance, he came to another settlement, containing many cottages. Before one cottage stood a cage with a parrot in it. No sooner did the parrot catch sight of the king, it burst into speech, "Welcome, welcome, most welcome! Pray, come and be seated, honoured guest!" The king was astounded. He went near the cage and said to the parrot, "O bird, you speak man's language Please explain to me a mystery. Sometime ago I passed by a habitation. There, too, I found a parrot in a cage. "The moment it saw me, it blurted out, 'A traveller, a traveller, come and rob him. Be quick!' Here, you uttered words of sweet welcome. What makes for such a difference? Both of you belong to the same species. Both of you are parrots speaking man's language. But your conduct is so divergent."
The parrot said, "Sir, excuse me. Both of us parrots not only belong to the same species, but also belong to the same family; We're blood-brothers, the offspringof the same parents. I am the elder one; the other parrot is younger, but he is my rcal brother."
The king's confusion was confounded all the more. He said, "What then makes for such a wide difference in the approach and the language used?"
The parrot explained to the king the mystery thereof. He said. "Your Majesty! My younger brother-parrot lives in the company of thieves and robbers. He has been brought up in a corrupt environment. Naturally, he hears continually of pillage and plunder and talks accordingly. I live in the company of saints, so I talk of the good things of life. Virtues and evils proceed from one's associations; these are determined by the environment in which an individual lives. Bad company generates evil, good company generates virtue."
A child brought up in a clean and pure atmosphere acts virtuously, whereas even a good child, subjected to a corrupt atmosphere, becomes tainted with evil.
The impact of the cnvironment is deep indeed. Intelligent and thoughtful parents create for their children the right atmosphere, free from all evil, in which goodness and virtue flower. On the other hand, those parents who ncglect their children and are not able to provide for them a good atmosphere, only serve to spoil them. We find even small children indulging in vulgar abuse. It is unimaginable! A small child was found uttcring some vile abuse. When the fact was mentioned to the child's father, the latter said, "It's really
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