In ancient times, there lived a peculiar bird.
It possessed a single torso but had two heads;
its name was Bharund.
Despite sharing a single body,
its heads lacked unity and coordination.
They harbored animosity toward one another.
Every living creature performs the functions of thought and reasoning using its brain,
and the brain resides within the head;
consequently, having two heads,
Bharund possessed two brains.
While one brain might contemplate heading east,
the other would think of going west.
The result was that its legs would take one step toward the east,
only to take the very next step toward the west,
leaving Bharund standing exactly where it had started.
Bharund's life had effectively been reduced to a perpetual tug-of-war between its two heads.
One day, while Bharund was wandering along a riverbank in search of food,
one of its heads spotted a fallen fruit lying on the ground.
It pecked at the fruit to taste it,
and upon doing so,
it smacked its lips in delight.
"Wow! I have never in my entire life tasted a fruit as delicious as this!
What marvelous things the Almighty has created in this world!"
"Oh, really? Let me have a taste as well,"
said the other head.
Just as it extended its beak toward the fruit,
the first head jerked violently,
flinging the second head away, and declared,
"Keep your filthy beak away from this fruit!
I am the one who discovered this fruit,
and I—and I alone—shall eat it!"
"Hey! We are both parts of the very same body.
Surely, we ought to share our food and drink with one another,"
the second head reasoned.
The first head retorted,
"Fine! We are indeed parts of a single body. We share a single stomach.
If I eat this fruit, it will end up in the stomach anyway—and that stomach belongs to you just as much as it does to me!"
The second head replied,
"Eating isn't merely about filling one's stomach, brother.
The pleasure of the palate counts for something, too! True gratification is experienced through the tongue; the real joy of eating lies right here, in the mouth!" The first head puffed out its chest and spoke in a taunting tone,
"I haven't exactly taken on the responsibility of catering to your palate or your culinary pleasures!
After eating the fruit, a belch will rise from the stomach that very belch will eventually escape through your mouth as well.
You can just make do with that.
Now, stop your incessant chatter and let me eat my fruit in peace."
Having said this, the first head began to eat the fruit with great relish.
Following this incident,
the second head resolved to exact revenge and began to lie in wait for the right opportunity.
A few days later, as the Bharund bird was once again roaming in search of food,
the second head spotted a particular fruit.
It had found exactly what it had been looking for.
The second head was just about to peck at the fruit when the first head shrieked a warning:
"Hey! Stop! Do not eat that fruit!
Are you not aware that it is poisonous?
Consuming it could lead to death!"
The second head laughed aloud,
"Heh, heh, heh! You just mind your own business. What concern is it of yours what I choose to eat?
Have you already forgotten what happened the other day?"
The first head tried to reason with it,
"If you eat this fruit, we will both perish!"
However, the second head was bent on revenge.
It retorted, "I haven't exactly taken on the responsibility of keeping *you* alive, have I?
I will eat whatever I wish to eat, regardless of the consequences.
Now, just let me eat this poisonous fruit in peace."
The second head proceeded to devour the entire poisonous fruit, and the Bharund bird died in agony.