potala

The Wolf and the Horse

Once there was a country where a very wealthy man lived. He enjoyed riding the land on his horse. He also used the animal for farming and pulling heavy loads. Before long, the horse became weary and useless to the man and he decided to release him into the forest.

The horse survived on woodland grasses and creek water. One day, as the horse was drinking at the streambed, he became trapped in the mud and was too weak to escape.

Suddenly, a wolf appeared and seeing the horse in such a difficult situation, thought, “Oh, I’m very hungry, and now I have found good luck!”

The wolf was very happy about the meal he would have with this poor horse and his mouth drooled with the thought.

The wolf then said, “Horse, I will eat you.”

The crying horse replied, “Oh, wolf, go ahead and eat me for I am old and weak.” He lamented, “Is there no sense of karma in this world?”

“Correct, horse! There is no sense of karma and for this reason I will eat you now” the wolf replied.

The horse then said, “Wolf, it’s ok, go ahead and eat me, but first let me tell you something. When I was a young and strong horse, I was beautiful and healthy, my master used me for many difficult tasks and rode me every day. He would saddle me and we would travel to the East, to the West, to the North, to the South. I overcame much suffering and he doesn’t care about me anymore.”

At his words the wolf, “Yes it is true, there is no sense of karma, and so I will eat you now.”

The horse still crying, said, “Wolf go ahead and eat me, but you should get me out of this mud, you can enjoy my meat better.”

“Yes, good idea,” said the wolf, “I will take you out of the mud and eat you!”

The wolf started to pull the horse out of the mud. When he was about to take the first bite, the horse said, “Hey, why don’t you wash me first? I’m all dirty and covered with mud. If you wash me you will have a much nicer meal”.

“Yes, definitely,” said the wolf while he started to clean him up. After a thorough cleaning, the wolf was about to bite him again, when the horse interrupted and said, “Wolf, one last thing. You are a studied and wise wolf, you got me out of the mud and washed the dirt off me. Why don’t you write under my hoof of the victory you had with this horse? You should also write that there is no sense of karma in this world!”

Now, the wolf thought this was a fine idea.

He had the horse lift his foot and the wolf moved under it. As he began to write his victory story, the horse kicked him and twisted his jaw. The wolf, in pain and crying, complained to the horse about what he had done, and the horse replied, “Oh wolf, there is no sense of karma in this world. You got me out of the river, you washed the dirt from my body and now you are in pain with your jaw twisted, and therefore I leave now.”

“When you bring a helping hand to someone, do it without expecting to gain something.”