An aged tribal leader was
facing a rebellion. Youthful upstarts
wanted to embarrass her publicly and take over the leadership of the
tribe. They decided that one of them would
hold a bird in his hands and ask the chieftain if the bird was dead or
alive. If she answered, “alive,” he
would squeeze the bird’s head, break its neck, and show everyone how wrong she
was. If she said it was dead, he would
let the bird go free and prove that she had erred. There the group stood, their leader holding
the bird and asking the old chieftain, “Is the bird alive or dead?”
She answered wisely, “The
choice is in your hands.”
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