Deeptale II
by
Per Jespersen
There was a professor, who worked on the king’s
university. It was the best university of the country, as it belonged to the
king, who was considered to be very clever. This is the way it is with kings –
they are only kings because of their intelligence.
The professor had a huge house with a beautiful garden
with roses, bushes, and trees – exactly like a clever man’s garden should be,
so everybody passing by could know, that here was the house of cleverness. He was
working all day and did not even have time for making his food himself. Oh no,
he had a kitchen chef, who was able to cook all sorts of meals. He admired the
professor, who admired the king. Oh sure, everything was pure admiration.
In the professor’s garden there was a red bird. It was
singing every morning – such a beautiful song, and the professor enjoyed its
song every single morning. Little did he know, how this bird could change his
work and his whole life for the time to come.
One of his students did a lot of thinking. Every
morning he was standing in his room, wondering what made the bird sing. He had
heard about a monk, who lived centuries ago. This monk wondered for years, what
made some flowers green and others red. On the monastery he made some
experiments with his flowers, cross-breeding the flowers to get new species.
Oh, a monastery is the closest you can get to The Good
Lord – so maybe it was a divine decision he made. This is certainly difficult –
to figure out what is God’s decision and what is man’s own logic. This counts
for you and me, too.
The professor’s student made a decision one evening –
even without asking the clever professor. Divinity or reflection? I cannot
tell.
Anyway, the red bird was caught in a huge net and
brought to the lab. And would you believe it: the student and the bird could
talk together.
Listen:
“Why do you catch me and take me away from the
garden?”
“To investigate you. I want to know how you can sing
in such a beautiful way. You must have a secret.”
“I have. But it is not something, you should know
about.”
“Oh yes. I need it for the sake of the clever
professor.
“Oh,” the bird said. “You are hunting vanity now. I
will tell you my secret, if you do not tell anybody, and if you will let me fly
back to the garden, as I have to wake up the professor.”
“I promise. Let me know!”
”Put me close to the window, then.”
The student did, what he was told. He was used to
that, so it was not difficult at all.
And now the bird spoke from the window sill, “There is
a tiny little molecule in me. This little molecule makes me sing the way I
sing. And I do love it myself. It is called DNA.”
“Oh!” The student was really astonished. “And if this
tiny molecule is transplanted into a human body – let us say that of a royal
singer – he will sing even better and more beautiful.”
“Do not tell anybody,” the bird said and flew out of
the window.
But the poor student could not keep his mouth closed.
Horrible! Terrible! He told the professor – and he even did it in such a way,
that the professor believed that he heard the student’s own thinking. And
therefore, he told the king. Oh, that is the way secrets are revealed!
The professor rebuilt his lab, so that a surgery could
be done there. The most clever surgeons of the country were called to his lab –
and believe me: the red bird was caught in a net again. A singer from The Royal
Opera was called to the lab, and he was given an anaesthetic, as was the red
bird.
Everything was ready for the transplantation, and the
professor’s smile was happier than ever. Oh, what a royal future he could have!
And imagine what vanity can do to people! Vanity takes away every ethical
thought. Oh!
But even among birds there is some gossip working. All
red birds of the kingdom gathered in a forest and made an important decision.
And that is not easy – not even for red birds. But they did it – and one of the
birds flew to the king’s castle and found the windows open to the royal
bedroom. It sat down on the sleeping king’s bed and started singing.
The king woke up in a splash of a second, which is not
a very royal way of waking up!
And the bird said, “When you go to the mirror to comb
your royal hair, there will be a message for you.”
Then it flew out of the window, hearing the king
whisper, “Rubbish!”
But even a clever king can be curious, so he rushed to
the mirror and found a piece of paper there.
He read and read: D – N - A. Do Not Agree!
Oh, he was royally confused, and he had to make a
decision, too. So early in the morning! It is not easy to be a responsible king
in the early morning hours.
But he sensed, that he had to visit his professor, and
he came into the lab in the moment the surgeon was ready with his knife.
Everybody silenced. That is a thing you have to do,
when a king enters your room. Always be ready for that! It can happen every
minute!
“Stop the surgery, let the singer go back to his
opera, and let the red bird fly! This is my decision, and as it is royal, it is
automatically law!!”
And so it was. The singer went happily home, and the
red bird disappeared in the garden. Oh,
what a clever king! Cleverer than the professor and his student, as he could
combine science with ethics.
This is the way a king should be.
Science and ethics.
That is royalty!
Timesquare,
Randerup, Denmark
&
Liceo
Internacional, Quito, Ecuador