Zi Xinyu's Short Stories Translated by: timebun

The Bird of Good and Evil

He said that I belonged to nature.

Thus, he left.

When I first saw the sky, it was blue and really, really big.

I simply wanted to fly even higher and even further, and thus, I ended up flying really, really far.

I copied my fellow birds' actions and landed on the balcony of a human.

They were stealing and eating the rice grains set out to dry in the sun. I also hid in a corner and sneakily ate the grains, mouthful by mouthful, feeling joy in eating my fill.

When night fell, I followed them and flew back to the forest.

When there was nothing to do, I learned how to catch little worms to eat, alongside my fellows.

🌟Part 3.

I was a happy little bird.

The first time I saw a human, my companions and I were so scared that we flew really, really far away.

They said that humans are bad, that they would catch little birds to play with.

I was really scared.

Because I loved the blue skies, loved flying with my own wings, and loved my freedom.

But humans weren't that bad.

I watched a little girl who had long, long hair; she was waving at me.

Dazed, I landed on a branch far away from her, out of her reach. I didn't understand what she was doing.

She grabbed a bunch of rice grains and tossed them, and they landed not far from me.

She pointed there, smiling without saying a word.

That was a great, great temptation for me.

I wanted to eat those grains, but I was afraid that she would capture me.

I saw that my companions had all flown away, but the little girl still continued to smile as she watched me.

She didn't move, as if waiting for me to move closer.

She hadn't moved for a long, long while.

I thought, that maybe I could go over.

🌟Part 4.

Humans really are kind.

I carefully hopped a few steps forward, but she didn't make a single move.

Thus, I scooped up a mouthful in my beak and flew away, but she still didn't move.

I hopped forward again and ate a few mouthfuls while trembling in fear- she moved, making me fly off in panic.

However, I saw that she had thrown more rice over.

I stopped being scared, and after finishing all the grains on the ground, she still tossed another bunch of grains to me.