A Cute Little Fable

Late last fall, a flock of sparrows was migrating out of Canada for the winter. One of the younger birds fell behind the group and found himself trapped in an early snowfall. He flew with all his might, but the freezing temperature was more than the little fellow could take. When night fell, he collapsed frozen and exhausted into a pasture.

As dawn broke and found the poor creature nearing its miserable end, a cow wandered by and shit on this frozen, helpless bird. The outraged sparrow fumed at such a cruel, undignified end to his happy little life. His indignation soon turned to joy though, for the warm cow shit thawed his frozen wings and would keep him toasty enough to fly away once the sun warmed the skies again. He began to sing loudly in triumph and gratitude.

A barn cat who was skulking nearby heard the bird's gleeful song and crept over to investigate. She found the singing sparrow buried in cowshit, and promptly pulled him out and devoured him whole.

The moral to this tale is threefold: First, not everyone who shits on you is your enemy. Second, not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend. Finally, if you're warm and happy in a pile of shit, you should probably just keep your mouth shut.