Page 103 - The Book of Rumi

The Duckling

storm had dislodged a cluster of duck eggs from the safety of the tree-
A lined shore, where their mother had created a safe haven for them in the

shade. As they floated purposelessly over the foaming waves, one of the eggs
got caught in a whirlpool and was separated from the others. Under the pres-
sure of the swirling water, the shell broke, and a little duckling poked his head
out, trying to breath in the new air. The relentless waves, however, tossed the
cracked egg onto the unfriendly shore, separating him forever from the other
eggs.
The tiny duckling struggled to emerge from the cracked shell and fi nally
managed to waddle away from the devouring sea onto dry sand. Unable to
fend for himself, the little duckling felt abandoned and frightened. As luck
would have it, a hen whose eggs had just hatched was nearby and saw the
helpless creature rolling around feebly on the endless expanse of shore. She
approached him and with great kindness sheltered him under her wing, taking
him to her own chicks.
The newborns grew up together and were able to nourish themselves
without the aid of their mother hen fairly quickly. The duckling, though,
always found himself drawn to the water but was too frightened to go in, as
he saw that none of his siblings had any desire to even try. He was torn inside,
unable to comprehend why he felt the way he did. Some days he only wanted
to be on dry land, but other days all he wanted was to get wet.
Although he couldn’t fully understand his own nature, at the same time he
couldn’t deny it either; much like we humans, who belong to the spirit world
and always yearn to go back but are caught in the snare of the material world,
unable to fully detach ourselves.

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