There was a couple of Titi birds living on the sea shore. The female birds would wait for the time of laying eggs to raise the children. When the anticipated time for laying eggs came, the wife asked her husband to search for a safe place to lay her eggs, saying: My dear, is there perhaps a place better than this shore to lay the eggs in?
Why don’t you search for a safe place for us to lay the eggs in? The sea waves in winter nights come high, and there might be danger in that for our children. So try to search for a safe place from sea waves before their time comes, my dear.
The male Titi laughed and insisted that the sea wouldn’t cause him any harm to his children! He said to her: Don’t be afraid. Lay your eggs here without fear. During that, the sea was listening to this conversation and didn’t expect this situation from a small bird like the Titi bird.
The sea decided then to snatch an egg from the eggs the female Titi would lay to know what the male’s clever friend would do to it. After a few days, the female Titi laid her eggs on the sea shore. After a short time, they hurried away to search for food. The sea began making its high waves until it swallowed some eggs.
And when they returned at a late time, they found it empty. The female began crying bitterly and said to her husband: Look at yourself. The sea waves have swallowed our eggs. You are a fool. You hear nothing but the sound of your own breath. I asked you to search for a safe place, but you didn’t care.
Despite everything that happened, the male Titi continued in his foolishness. He said: My dear, don’t grieve. I will think about how I can calm the sea and make it return our eggs once again. The female rejoiced and wondered: How can he tame this terrifying sea?
The male bird smiled and looked at her, saying: Even small creatures can overcome the strongest opponents, if they are enthusiastic for that. Therefore, I will set out to tame the sea quickly to take revenge on him.
The male bird gathered all the birds, and at their head were the stork and the hoopoes to help him. They all agreed that the matter is impossible. They said to him: There’s no benefit in these attempts. How can we possibly calm the sea and tame it completely?
They suggested he seek help from their king, Garuda, as the legend says. They said: Why don’t we go to him, submit to his listening to us, and ask for his advice? Indeed, they went to their king Garuda and said to him: Oh our just king, the sea has stolen the eggs of Titi birds. If he continues doing that, we will perish and our eggs will perish too. Therefore, we came to you asking for help and support.
Garuda realized that the birds were in great distress. He asked God Vishnu for help and informed him that he was facing a divine mission, as the sea had oppressed the birds and taken their eggs. He was asking him to return the eggs of Titi birds to them so they would live in peace in the kingdom.
Garuda explained to God Vishnu what the sea was doing to the weak birds, and that by this, God Vishnu was angered, and this is not permissible. He asked him to force him to return the eggs to the birds once again so the birds would be happy and the sea would submit.
Then the birds all went to the shore, where they all heard God Vishnu’s warning to the sea for what he had done to the Titi birds’ eggs. They kept waiting with great patience for the return of the eggs. God Vishnu held a mace in his hand, with which he was beating the sea to make it return the eggs, or he would face his wrath.
When the sea heard the warning from God Vishnu, he was terrified. He apologized for what he had done and immediately returned the eggs to the Titi birds. The moral of this story says: Don’t mock the power of the weak, as every creature, no matter how small its size, has great power that God gave it to use in what benefits it.