In one northern country, a very kind king ruled. He had an only daughter, whose name was Isolde. The princess was as kind as her father. She helped the sick and the poor, and she also loved the summer festival, which was attended by crowned persons from other countries. During this festival, the girl met Prince Sahir, who lived in a southern country. The princess fell in love, their families began to prepare the wedding. Isolde dreamed of being the most beautiful on it. The girl herself came up with a wedding dress. She must wear a cloak the color of a steel north sea and a snow-white dress. And there should also be a headdress that looks like arrows of ice on the window. The cloak and dress were immediately ordered to a court seamstress, but it was not so easy to create a headdress in the form of frosty arrows.
One day, a wanderer came to Isolde, who told about white herons, whose crest looked like arrows of frost. But in order to get it, the bird must be killed. The princess did not dare to kill for a long time, but the temptation was great. She ordered the wanderer to go after the heron … At the magnificent wedding, the princess was the most beautiful, but she was tormented by repentance. She tried not to think about her impartial act …
Several years have passed. Isolda and Sagir moved to a warm country, they raised children. But the princess missed her father very much. One day she went home. Having settled in her room, she looked at the sea for a long time, and then fell asleep …
She was awakened by two white herons. One of them had a magnificent tuft on its head, the second had two bright red flowers in its beak. The heron said it was the blood of their dead brothers. The princess was scared. The bird continued its story. It turns out that after the wedding of Isolde, an accessory from a tuft of a white heron became very fashionable. Birds were brutally exterminated by cutting off their tufts. Today, these birds have been completely exterminated, leaving only one pair. Isolde flew with the herons to their homeland. Here she saw a terrifying picture: the whole earth was strewn with the bodies of dead birds. This was the real price of her outfit. The girl woke up … In the morning she told the king about her terrible dream. The girl repented of her terrible act. Her father told her that he had been hearing about the extermination of white birds for a long time. Her dream turned out to be almost true.
The princess swore that she would never hurt anyone again. Her father told her that this was not enough either, because you also need to do good. Isolde returned home a different person …
The author raises a serious moral question. People often do not think about the consequences of their actions, they are obsessed only with their dream. But happiness should not be built on someone else’s blood, be it the blood of a person, a bird, an animal … You can’t collude with your own conscience, because even one ugly act can lead to disaster.
Here you can draw parallels with a child’s tear and the butterfly effect: the flapping of its wings in America can lead to a hurricane in India …
The parable teaches us to be merciful and not to succumb to momentary desires if other people may suffer during their fulfillment.
