The Swallow That Nested in the Courthouse
Long ago a swallow lived in a pretty town by the blue sea. Every morning this happy bird sang cheerful songs. In the middle of the town stood a big stone courthouse. People came here to solve their problems and find justice. The swallow found this building very safe and peaceful. In spring the mother swallow looked for a safe place for her eggs.
"The courthouse is the safest place," she thought. She built a small pretty nest of mud under the roof. Soon three tiny sweet chicks were born in the nest. The mother swallow flew away happily to find food. But then a sly snake climbed up the wall toward the nest. The wicked snake reached the nest and ate the little chicks.
The mother came back, saw no chicks and felt great pain. In tears she sat on a high branch and cried out. "I trusted this safe house of justice," she said. "Yet even at the door of justice a great wrong found me." The wind carried her bitter voice across the whole town. Evil can find us even in the places we think safest. The eye that guards itself is the one the speck finds.