Flute : Story from India

Flute : Story from India

A long, long time ago, the god Vishnu came to Earth and became Lord Krishna. As a young man, Krishna loved to play the flute. He often went for walks in the forests and played for the animals there. They loved his beautiful music.

One day, after he had played for them, he fell asleep. He didn't know it but a young boy in ragged clothes had also been listening to his music. When he saw that Krishna was asleep, he crept up to Krishna's side and took the flute. He put it to his lips and tried to play it, but try as he might, he could not play a single tune. All he could produce were odd, sharp notes, which soon woke Krishna up.

Lord Krishna was very angry. “How dare you steal my flute!” he cried. “I am the Lord Krishna. Surely you know that no one can touch anything belonging to the gods. You must be punished!”

The poor boy fell to his knees. “Oh, my Lord Krishna," he wept, "I had no idea that you were a god. I did not steal your flute. I only wanted to try and play it as beautifully as you.”

Lord Krishna felt sorry for the boy, so he decided to soften the punishment. “Come, my boy,” he said, and gently put his hands over the boy's mouth. “From this time on, you will try to copy my song but you will never succeed.” Then he touched the boy's rags and whispered, “You will also wear my colors and stay in these forests forever.”

And with these words, the boy turned into a beautiful bird with the blue markings of Krishna and began to sing the song of Krishna's flute. But as Lord Krishna had foretold, it couldn't finish the song. The bird became known as the Whistling Thrush of Malabar. To this day, it is still trying to finish the lovely song played by Krishna on his magic flute. Source: Asian Folktales