The Bodhisatta was once a tree fairy, and he witnessed the following. A hunter searching for birds went into the forest with a decoy. He followed one bird, but it flew off a short way each time the hunter drew near. So the hunter covered himself with twigs and branches and continued his pursuit. The bird, wanting the hunter to feel ashamed, mocked him for being dumb and then flew off to another place.
In the Lifetime of the Buddha
The clever bird was an earlier birth of one of the Buddha’s disciples who took very good care of his health, never eating anything too hot or too cold and rarely going outside so he’d avoid high and low temperatures. One time the Buddha heard other disciples discussing the healthy disciple’s attention to himself, and he told them this story so they knew that this disciple had also cared for himself well in the past.
The hunter was an earlier birth of Devadatta, a disciple of the Buddha who became his nemesis.
