the ransom is paid

an old man came upon a young boy who held with his left hand a cage containing some wild birds. the lad was skipping down the street with a huge grin on his young face, cage swinging in hand. the old man was interested, and asked the kid, "boy, what have you got there?"

"i caught these birds today!" came the answer. and the old man grinned,

"that's nice. what will you do with them?"

"i am going to poke them," said the boy with a huge grin, "and then i am going to pluck out their feathers!" he continued. "then i will burn them with fire." the old man's face changed immediately as the boy carried on, "i am going to torture these birds and kill them!"

"no, my boy. no! you musnt do that to the kind animals" the old man pleaded with the boy.

"i shall kill them. and i shall be entertained!" said the boy, ignoring the plea with more smile.

"no, my boy. sell these birds to me. let me buy them off of your hands."

"sir, you are old, but are you also thick in the head? these wild birds are useless creatures! why on earth would anyone pay money for them?"

"little boy, just name me your price. sell these innocent birds to me."

the old man was wealthy and owned much property and land. this the boy knew, and he took advantage of this knowledge and named the price of the birds to be all the man's possessions.

"it is to be done as you say. all of mine on this earth i give to you. now hand me the cage, for i have paid for it so that it and the birds are now mine." so the old man paid dearly for the birds. yet he was not disappointed, until he went out to the fields and opened the cage to let the birds fly free, only to discover that the little creatures would not come out...

"little birds, your ransom is great. but it has been paid in full. you are no longer slave to the torturer. you are no longer bound by cage. now come out to me, and all of you shall be free."

but they would not come out...