Beauty and Grey
[A Wise Leader]
A long, long time ago, there was
a deer that was the herd leader of a thousand. He had Two sons. The first son,
Beauty, was a very slim and tall deer with bright sparkling eyes and smooth
scarlet fur. The second, Grey, was also slim and tall with handsome grey fur.
One day, when Beauty and Grey were old enough, their father said: “I am now
very old, and cannot do all that is necessary to look after this large herd of
deer. I wish to retire and I want the two of you, my grown-up children, to be
the leaders. The two of you will share the herd, with each leading 500 deer.”
With that, the two young deer became leaders in their own right.
At that time in India, the deer
were always in danger during the harvesting season. Rice crops were at its
tallest when they were to be harvested, and the deer could not help but venture
into the paddy fields to eat them. To avoid the destruction of their crops, the
humans dug pits, set sharp stakes in the ground, and built stone traps to capture
and kill the deer. When the harvesting season arrived, the wise old deer called
his two sons to him. He advised them to take the herds up into the mountain
forest, far from the dangerous farmlands. He had used this tactic to save the
deer from being wounded or killed over the years. Then he would bring them back
to the lowlands after the harvest was over. As he was too old and weak for the
journey, the wise old deer chose to stay behind in hiding. After warning them
to be careful, he wished them a safe trip. Beauty set out with his herd for the
mountain forest, and so did Grey with his. Knowing that this was the season the
deer migrated from the low-lying farmlands to the highlands of the countryside,
the villagers hid along the way and killed them as they passed by.
In his hurry to get his herd to
the lush mountain forest, Grey did not heed his father’s wise advice. Instead
of travelling cautiously, he moved his herd constantly, during the night, at
dawn and dusk, and even in broad daylight. This made the deer in Grey’s herd an
easy target for the humans to shoot with their bows and arrows. Many were
killed and seriously injured, only to die in great pain later on. Finally, when
Grey arrived at the forest, only a paltry few deer were left in his herd. Beauty,
on the other hand, was wise enough to understand the dangers posed to his
moving herd. He was very careful. He realised it was safer to stay away from
the villages and from all humans.
He knew it was not safe to move
the herd in the daytime, or even at dawn or dusk. So he led his herd wide
around the villages and moved only in the middle of the night. Due to Beauty’s
prudence and wisdom, all of his herd reached the mountain forest safe and
sound. Not one was killed or injured. The two herds found each other, and
remained in the mountains until the harvesting season was over. Then they began
to return to the low-lying farmlands for it was turning cold in the mountains.
Unfortunately, Grey had learnt nothing from his first trip
.
In his anxiety to return to the
warmer lowlands, he was just as thoughtless and brash as before. Again, the
people hid along the way and sprang an attack on the deer. All of Grey’s
remaining herd were killed. Only Grey himself survived the hazardous journey.
But Beauty led his herd in the
same careful way as before. He brought all 500 deer back
safely. Seeing the deer, the old
chief said to his doe when the herd was still some distance
away: “Look. Beauty has brought
all his followers safely back with him, whereas Grey comes limping back alone
without his whole herd of 500. Those who follow a wise leader, with good
qualities, will always be safe. But those who follow a foolish leader, who is
careless and thinks only of himself, will fall into troubles and be destroyed.”
After some time, the old deer died and was reborn as he deserved. And as for
Beauty, he became the chief of the herd and lived a long life, loved and
admired by all.
The moral is
✏
a wise leader puts the safety of his followers first.
0 Response to "Story Beauty and Grey ( 11 )"
Post a Comment