25
Dirty Bath Water
[Cleanliness]
Long, long ago, in a kingdom in India, some
grooms were bringing a fine royal horse down to the river. The grooms always
brought this horse, the finest of all royal horses, to the shallow pool at the
river for its bath.
However, just before they
arrived, a really filthy wild horse had just been washed at the same spot.
Newly caught from the countryside, it had never taken a decent bath before.
When the fine royal horse was there, it sniffed the air. Right away, it could
tell that some filthy wild horse had been washed there and had fouled the
water. The royal horse was so disgusted that it refused to take its bath at
that place.
The grooms tried their best to
coax the horse into the water, but to no avail. They went to the king and
complained that the fine well-trained royal stallion had suddenly turned
stubborn and unmanageable. In this story, the king had an intelligent minister
who was well-known for his ability to understand animals. So he summoned him
and said: “Please go and see what has happened to my finest horse. Find out why
it refuses to be bathed. Is it because it is sick? Of all my horses, I thought
this one was of such high calibre that it would never let itself sink into
muckiness. Something must be wrong.” The minister went down to the riverside
immediately. He found that the stately horse was not sick, but in perfect
health. He also noticed that it was deliberately breathing as little as
possible. He sniffed the air and detected a slight foul odour. Upon further
investigation, he found that the smell came from the dirty water in the bathing
pool. He figured that another extremely grubby horse must had been washed
there, and that the king’s horse was too fond of cleanliness to bathe in the
dirty water. “Did any other horse take a bath at this spot today?” asked the
minister to the horse grooms. “There was one, sir” they replied, “before we
arrived, a really dirty wild horse had just been washed here.” “My dear grooms,
this is a fine royal horse that loves cleanliness. It does not wish to bathe in
dirty water. Take him upstream, where the water is fresh and clean, and wash
him there,” advised the minister.
They followed his instructions,
and the royal horse was pleased to take a bath in the new place. The minister returned
to the king and told him what had happened. Then he said: “You were right, your
majesty. This fine horse was indeed of such high calibre that he would not let
himself sink into dirtiness!” Astonished that his minister was able to
understand what the horse wanted, the king rewarded him appropriately.
0 Response to "Story Dirty Bath Water ( 25 )"
Post a Comment