Grandpa’s Stories

Pichie
Emperor penguins live at the South Pole where southern lights dance on the horizon and the weather is bitterly cold. Pichie, a young emperor penguin, lives in a large colony of emperor penguins, and every one of them looks exactly alike.
One day Pichie decided he didn’t want to look like the other emperor penguins, so he began to wear a red bow tie instead of the traditional black bow tie with his tuxedo suit that all emperor penguins wear. But after he started wearing the red bow tie, the other penguins wouldn’t let him play with them.
Pichie couldn’t understand why the other penguins didn’t like him anymore. He was sad and lonely, and he began to spend a lot of his time by the ocean. One day, as he sat watching some seals swim by, he thought, “Maybe the seals will let me play with them. I might even join them on their journey north.”
Pichie jumped in the ocean. Although he swam as fast as the seals, the seals ignored him and swam away from him.
“Hey!” Pichie shouted. “Don’t swim away from me. I want to play with you and join you as you journey north.”
“One of the seals, a pretty black one, yelled back to Pichie, “We don’t want to play with you. Go play with the penguins. You don’t belong with us.”
After that, Pichie realized that rejection was now part of his life. It hurt him that no one would play with him. He swam back to shore, sat down on a slippery ice shelf, and almost slid back into the ocean.
“Even the ice doesn’t want me around. I can’t understand why no one likes me,” he said, even though he knew there was no one around to hear him.
A voice behind him said, “I know why.”
Pichie looked back and saw old Silfred, the wisest emperor penguin in Antarctica.
“Pichie, the other penguins don’t want to play with you because you think you’re better than them.”
“But my mother told me I’m an emperor penguin, which makes me royalty, and that makes me better than other penguins.”
Old Silfred lowered his glasses and looked down at Pichie. “Not really, Pichie. Emperor penguins don’t look that different from one another; in fact, all of us look very much alike.”
“I can’t accept that. I just know I’m special,” insisted Pichie.
Old Silfred then began to explain many things to Pichie. “Pichie, being born an emperor penguin and living at the South Pole doesn’t make any of us royalty, and it certainly doesn’t make any of us different from one another. For example, we all swim, we dive from cliffs into the cold ocean, and we love to eat fish. Do you eat fish, Pichie?”
“Of course, I eat fish every day.”
“Do you fly through the air?”
“Of course, not. Penguins can’t fly. Why are you asking me such ridiculous questions?”
“Because you need to understand that you’re no different from other emperor penguins. You think your red bow tie makes you better than others, and that’s the reason the other emperor penguins won’t play with you.”
“But I want to be special,” Pichie said sadly.
“And you are special, Pichie. The world works this way: anyone who cares about others is special. The day you started caring only for yourself is the day everyone began to ignore you. Don’t you realize that your pride has hurt them?”
“Does that mean I have to give up my red bow tie?” Pichie asked.
“Giving up your red bow tie must be your decision. But the first thing you need to do, is to accept that you’re no better than anyone else. When you do that, you will earn the respect of every emperor penguin in Antarctica. Then they will let you play with them.”
Pichie began to think so hard that he didn’t notice Old Silfred waddling away. As he thought about everything Old Silfred had said, he decided he would win everyone’s friendship by changing his attitude. He wouldn’t let pride cause him to think he was better than everyone else. He would be humble and always treat everyone with kindness. He would give respect to earn respect.
As Pichie walked away from the slippery ice shelf, he said to himself, “I might look like other emperor penguins, but I’m special; not because I wear a red bow tie, but because I’ve learned that pride mustn’t be used to hurt others. I’ve changed my attitude, and now all emperor penguins will know that I’m one of them.”
Pichie threw his red bow tie into the ocean, and he felt special—very special.
The wisdom Old Silfred had shared with Pichie taught him that what’s on the outside of an emperor penguin should never be as important as what’s on the inside of an emperor penguin.