The Bird in the Cage

Several old preachers use an incident, the actual origin of which is impossible to pinpoint. Usually it is told in the first person. The minister encountered a boy who had a bird in a cage. The bird was terrified. The boy was adamant on one point: he would not release the bird.

The narrator bargained with the boy to buy the bird. When the bird was paid for, the liberator released the bird and watched it fly away, free and happy. It is presumed that the boy was given back the empty cage and sallied forth to catch another bird and sell to another bird lover.

This is a delightful story, and it makes all the listeners feel virtuous. They have sympathized with the bird and the bird’s rescuer. I have heard it told with the mean expressions of the boy showing on the curled lip and in the gleaming eye of the teller. I have heard the frightened chirpings of the bird and the clink of silver into the boy’s palm. The cage door has clicked open before one’s very eyes, and the bird took off, beating his wings awkwardly, until he could regain his song and his flight.

The traditional interpretation follows: “I was in bondage, as terrified as that bird. Satan had me caged by sin and self. I knew I couldn’t save myself from the devil. But Jesus came, and He saw my plight, paid for my release, and set me free.”