The pond, rippling and dancing, told them all that had happened to the louse. Then the pond took a deep, cool breath and sighed, “You should churn my waters through your wings so that they may be washed clean as rainwater.”

The swans answered, “Why not? You look just as as pathetic without us as we do without you.” And so saying, they jumped into the red water and began beating their wings, letting the pond filter through their feathers. And they splashed so hard that the pond became as clear and pure as before.

The pond was so grateful that she bestowed a blessing upon the swans: “May your feathers become the purest white.”

As soon as she had spoken, the swans suddenly turned as fair as milk. Before that all swans were black, you have to understand. But from that  day onward, swans would be white as the driven snow.

Then all the white swans, happy as could be, flew off in a great line into the blue sky.

As they were going they met some parakeets. “Yesterday you were absolutely black,” the parakeets observed as they flew alongside them. “How did you become so white?”

The swans slowed their flight ever so slightly and said, “The pond’s heart was so filled with gratitude that she bestowed this blessing: All swans shall be white and all parakeets green.”

As soon as the swans said this, the parakeets’ feathers turned a brilliant green. Before this, parakeets were black as coal. But from that day, parakeets were green.

The parakeets were fluttering happily along, flitting from one branch to the next until they landed in a mango tree.

A cuckoo called out, “Ah-ray! Yesterday you were blacker than me, and today you stand out brighter than the leaves of this tree. How did this happen?”