The Foolish/Vain Stag Story

Once, there lived a stag in a jungle. He went to a stream to drink water daily. He had beautiful, shining and strong antlers. He was very proud of them. He always admired his antlers every time he saw his reflection in the clear water of the stream, but he would curse his stars as he caught sight of his thin, weak-looking ugly legs. The very sight of them made him wander why god ever made those ugly legs. He often thought that if he had not got those legs, he would have been the most beautiful animal in the jungle.

One day a hunting party came to the jungle. The hunters set their hounds after the stag. The stag sniffed the danger and ran away. His thin, ugly legs helped him to run very fast and soon he was out of danger. When he was running through the thick forest, his antlers got stuck in the low-hanging branches of a tree. He made every possible effort to break the shackles but in vain. Soon the stag was pulled down and torn to pieces by hounds. As he surrounded by the dogs, he said to himself: “The legs I despised took me to a place of safety, and the horns I was very proud of, have become the cause of my death.”

Moral:

  1. All that glitters are not gold.
  2. Appearances are deceptive.
  3. Do not find gold with the ways of gold.
  4. Pride hath a fall.