As free as the birds flying

As free as the birds flying

　A man was walking on the street. Then he saw a boy with a number of birds for sale in a cage. He stopped and watched those little prisoners¹. They were flying about the cage and trying to get out.

　“How much do you ask for your birds?” He said to the boy.

　“Fifty cents for any one, sir,” said the boy.

　“I do not mean how much for one,” said the man, “but how much for all of them? I want to buy them all.”

　The boy started to count and found they came to five dollars.

　“There is your money,” said the man.

　As the boy happily took it, the man opened the cage door, and let all the birds fly away.

The boy, in great surprise, cried, “What did you do that for, sir? You have lost all your birds.”

　“I will tell you why,” said the man.

　“I was kept in a prison for three years, as a prisoner of war. In my life, I will never see anything in prison as long as I can make it free.”

Note:

1. prisoner n. 囚犯