Dr. Skinner was a kind and polite man, and he had a very loyal friend named Bob. Bob was a gray pigeon with green eyes and red feet. Dr. Skinner and Bob would play together, eat together, and enjoy time together. But one day, Dr. Skinner argued strongly with Bob. Bob shouted in Dr. Skinner’s face and said to him, “I do not like you anymore, and I do not want to play with you again.”
Bob went into his room and decided he would never come out of it again. But Dr. Skinner felt worried because Bob was not talking to him. Bob was very small and did not know how to get food. Bob usually ate and played with Dr. Skinner every day, and Dr. Skinner was very happy to feed Bob.
On the first day, Dr. Skinner cooked the food and set the table, and called out to Bob, saying to him, “I have prepared the food. Will you come to eat with me?” Bob replied, “No, thank you. I will feed myself.” So Dr. Skinner ate all the food. As for Bob, he actually did not know how to feed himself! He knew there was food in the refrigerator, but he felt angry and did not want to go out in front of Dr. Skinner and eat his food.
Bob did not eat anything on the first day. He was hungry. On the second day, Bob kept playing alone in his room, but he was starving and also felt bored. He thought, “I can always play alone,” but he found this boring, so he said, “I will go and apologize to Dr. Skinner.” He opened his room door and went out, but he found a surprise. There was food placed behind the room door.
Bob was happy because he did not have to apologize to Skinner, even though he missed the time he used to play with him, but he did not want to apologize!
Bob thought, “Where did the food behind my room door come from? Perhaps the god of pigeons put it in front of my door.” Bob returned to his room and danced. The next day, he felt hungry again and opened the door, but he did not find food. He thought, “Why is there no food today?”
Bob decided to go and apologize to Dr. Skinner. He went out and found him in the kitchen preparing food. Dr. Skinner said to him, “Can you eat with me?” Bob said to him, “Certainly,” and he was happy that Dr. Skinner was not angry with him. He apologized to him strongly, and they became friends again and ate together. But Bob never told Dr. Skinner about the god of pigeons, and Dr. Skinner never told Bob that he had placed the food in front of his room!
Translated from: Dr. Skinner and Hungry Pigeon