Long ago, there was a farmer who had an old horse with him. As the horse had become old, the farmer told the horse to leave his house and live in some forest. The horse became very sad. He said to his master, “Master, I’m your old servant. I have served you all my life. I have always been faithful to you and there has been no slackness on my part in carrying out my duties. So long as I was physically strong, you had all your affections for me but as soon as you realised that I have become physically infirm; I, no longer, have that vigour and vitality in me, you asked me to leave your house and go and live in some forest. Is this a reward to the services rendered by me with all my honesty and faithfulness?”

The farmer was at a loss of words. He had no logical answer.

“All right!” the farmer said to the horse. “You can stay in my house provided you bring me a lion. I want a lion’s skin.”

So the worried horse set out for the forest. There he met a fox. The fox took pity on the horse and enquired from him the reason of his sadness. The horse narrated the whole story.

The fox being good natured offered to help the horse. He said to the horse. “You lie down here on the ground as if you were dead.”

The horse followed the advice of the fox and lay there on the ground as if he were dead.

Then the fox met king lion and said “Your Majesty, there is a dead horse lying in an open field. It’s better you come and see for yourself.”

When the fox and the lion reached the spot, where the horse was lying pretending to be dead, the fox said, “Let us pull this horse and put it behind the bushes so that we could have a peaceful meal. What I’ll do is that I’ll tie your tail to the tail of the horse.”

“Yes, I agree with you,” said the lion.

So the fox, instead of tying lion’s tail to that of the horse, tied the horse’s tail with the leg of the lion. Then he asked the horse to get up and run fast.

The horse, at once got up and started running as fast as he could.

All this happened so suddenly that the lion didn’t get a chance to balance himself. The horse was running so fast that he was literally being dragged like a dead animal. His body slammed against big rocks so many times and was caught by thorny bushes in the way. He was getting injuries after injuries and was bleeding profusely.

The lion began to cry and threaten, but the horse didn’t stop. At last, the lion couldn’t take any more of it and succumbed to injuries.

The horse stopped at his master’s house with the dead lion tied to its tail. The farmer was very happy to see the dead lion. He permitted the horse to stay at his house as long as he wished.

❖ Mind is mightier than body.