The Bird

by Leo Tolstoy

It was Seroza's birthday, and he got many different presents – mostly toys and pictures. But Seroza's uncle gave him a gift that he loved more than anything else. It was a trap for catching birds. Seroza ran into the house to show his mother.

But she said, "It’s not a nice toy. What do you want with birds? Why do you want to hurt them?"

"I’m going to put them in a cage," Seroza said. "They will sing, and I will feed them."

He put the trap in the garden, with some bird food in it. Then he stood near the trap and waited for the birds to fly down. But the birds were afraid of him and would not come near.

Seroza ran in to get something to eat, and left the trap. After dinner he went to look at it again. The trap door had shut, and in it a little bird was beating against the bars. Seroza picked up the bird in his hand, and carried it into the house.

"Mother, I’ve caught a bird!" he shouted. "I can feel its heart beating!"

His mother said, "Be careful! Don't hurt it. I think you should let it go."

"No," he said. "I’m going to give it something to eat and drink."

Seroza put the bird in a cage, and for two days gave it bird-food and water, and cleaned the cage. But on the third day he forgot all about it, and did not change the water.

His mother said, "Look, you’ve forgotten your bird. You should let it go."

Seroza put his hand in the cage and started to clean it, but the little bird was frightened. After he had cleaned the cage, he went to get some water. His mother saw that he had forgotten to shut the cage door, and she called after him.

"Seroza, shut your cage or your bird will fly out and hurt itself."

As soon as she spoke the words, the bird flew out of the cage and around the room towards the window. Seroza came running in, caught the bird, and put it back in the cage. The bird was still alive, but it lay on its breast, with its wings open, and breathed heavily. Seroza looked at it for a long time, and started to cry.

"Mother, what can I do now?" he asked.

"You can do nothing now," she replied.

Seroza stayed by the cage all day. He did nothing but look at the bird. And all the time the bird lay on its breast and breathed hard and fast.

When Seroza went to bed, the bird was dead. Seroza could not get to sleep for a long time. Every time he shut his eyes he seemed to see the bird still breathing heavily.

In the morning when Seroza went to his cage, he saw the bird on its back.

After that Seroza never trapped a bird again.