The Oxen, Hyenas and Fox
One day, as three black oxen and a white one grazed in the forest,
darkness came upon them. As the time to sleep approached, they said to
each other: “Let’s not allow the enemy into our midst. One of us will
sleep facing East, one West, one North, and one South.”
Around midnight the white ox heard a noise and awoke from his sleep. He
knew immediately it was a pack of hyenas, so he awakened his comrades.
Each of them stood, and they all agreed that they should stay at sharp
attention, facing all four directions.
At the same moment, the hyenas sat down to deliberate. They were sick
of pacing to and fro, but they could not find a point of attack. “How
can we seize one of the oxen?” they asked themselves.
A fox wandered by and asked, “What’s the matter dear cousins? Why are
you going against your nature and sitting, when your’re usually working
hard at this time of night?”
One of the hyenas answered: “Dear cousin, it’s indescribable, but we’ve
found no point of attack against these oxen — that’s why we’re sitting.”
“With a brother like me,” replied the fox, “why should you act so
sorrowful? Go, sit a little longer, and I’ll find a point of attack by
myself.”
The hyenas were delighted. “With you, dear cousin, where there is a
will, there is a way. We’ve had such a disagreeable night. Go do what
you can!”
So the fox went to the oxen and said, “Good evening! Is all going
well? Why are you standing there and looking out in the four directions
of the compass?” One of the oxen replied: “This way our enemy cannot
find a way to attack. We must forget our sleep and stay alert.”
“Your idea is a good one,” said the fox, “but the white ox has betrayed
you. It was easy for me to find you, because I could see the white ox a
long way off, even in the dark.” The fox then went off a short way to
hide.
The three black oxen said to the white one, “The fox is right! You have
betrayed us — get out of here!” The white ox replied: “Don’t listen to
the fox. It is better that we defend ourselves together.” But the
others answered: “Why should we suffer from you any longer. Go!”
The white ox left, saying as he went, “I leave you to your own fate when
I am gone.”
The fox returned to where the hyenas were sitting. “Come now, your
point of attack has been opened,” he said. So the hyenas attacked at
the point where the white ox had stood, and ate up the three black
oxen. They then searched for the white ox, but could not find him. The
sun had risen, so they returned to their lair.
Moral: If you stay close to your comrades, no one can take your power
from you.
*******************
Memhr Yohannes
(John Rude)
** To UNSUBSCRIBE from dehai, send mail to: majordomo@primenet.com **
** with the following text in the body of your mail: **
** unsubscribe dehai your-email-address **