Headstrong Companion

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[image: Headstrong Companion]*

Once upon a time there lived a Bharunda, a bird with two heads.

**One day it found a **strange fruit** on the seashore. It picked it up and
started eating it. The head that was feeding, exclaimed, "Many a sweet fruit
tossed**by the sea** have I eaten, but this beats them all. Is it the fruit
of a sandalwood tree or that of the divine parijata?" **

Hearing this, the other head asked to taste the fruit, but the first head
refused, saying, "We have a common stomach, so there's no need for you to
eat it too. I'll give it to our sweetheart, the Bharundi," and with that, it
tossed the half-eaten fruit to the female.

>From that day on, the second head carried a grudge against the first and
waited for an opportunity to take revenge.

One day it found a poison fruit. Picking up the fruit, it said to the first
head, "You selfish wretch! See, here's a poison fruit and I'm going to eat
it."

"Don't do that, you fool!" shrieked the first head, "you'll kill us both."

But the second head would not listen. It consumed the poison and soon the
two-headed bird was dead.

**—A tale from the Panchatantra** **

நல்லதுசெய் நல்லதே நடக்கும்
जन सेवा इश्वर  सेवा
cnu.pne*

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