One day an elephant saw a hummingbird
lying on its back with its tiny feet
up in the air.

“What are you doing?”
asked the elephant.

The hummingbird replied,
“I heard that the sky might fall today,
and so I am ready to help hold it up, should it fall.”

The elephant laughed cruelly.

“Do you really think,”
he said,
“that those tiny feet could help hold up the sky?”

The hummingbird kept his feet up in the air,
intent on his purpose,
as he replied,

“Not alone.
But each must do what he can.
And this is what I can do.”

— A Chinese Folktale