A man is given the care of a young falcon.

He has never seen a falcon before. He has only ever known pigeons.

So when he looks at this strange bird, with its long curved talons and its hooked beak and its broad, restless wings, something in him is troubled.

The bird looks wrong.

The bird looks as though no one has been caring for it properly.

He thinks for a while. Then he goes to find a pair of scissors.

He works carefully.

He is not cruel.

He is, in his own mind, helping.

He trims the long talons back.

He clips the wide wings short. He files the hooked beak down to a small, sensible point.

The bird is quiet and subdued under his hands.

When he is finished, he stands back and looks.

“There,” he says softly. “Now you look like a proper bird.”

Question: As you read the story, what do you begin to notice?

These are my retellings of the parable by Anthony de Mello, “The Royal Pigeon” from The Song of the Bird (1982).

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