Hidden Depths

One day Mulla Nasrudin was in the market and saw birds for sale at five hundred reals each. My bird, he thoguht, which is larger than any of these is worth far more. The next day, he took his pet hen to market. Nobody would offer him more than fifity reals for it. The Mulla began to shout:

O people! This is a disgrace! Yesterday you were selling birds only half this size at ten times the price.

Someone interrupted him: Nasrudin, those were parrots – talking birds. They are worth more because they talk.

Fool! said Nasrudin; those birds you value only because they can talk. This one, which has wonderful thoughts and yet does not annoy people with chatter, you reject.

This spiritual story is from the book The Exploits of the Incomparable Mulla Nasrudin by Idries Shah.