Seven lions and one bull decided to be friends. First, the lions held a feast and invited their new friend. The lions prepared a whole mountain of fresh meat, ate themselves and treated the bull. The bull tried not to show that the treat was not to his taste. And although he did not eat meat, he constantly thanked the lions for their hospitality.
Then it was the bull's turn to have a feast.
Seven lions came to the bull on the appointed day and saw a huge mop of fresh grass.
The lions were very surprised.
- How? Don't you have any meat? Are you really thinking about treating us to this herb?
The bull said timidly:
- In my opinion, this grass is much tastier than meat. I advise you to try it.
“But we didn’t force you to eat meat,” said the lions. -We didn’t tell you: “Eat!” And you want to force us to eat this grass. If you decided to have a feast, you had to take care of the food. What kind of feast is this without meat?
“But I don’t even have anywhere to take it,” the bull tried to justify himself.
Then the lions said:
- This is unheard of impudence - to invite us to visit and starve us. Anyone else who would do this to us, we would tear to pieces on the spot. But you are our friend. Therefore, you deserve leniency, and as a sign of our mercy, we will eat only one of your legs.
The bull realized that it was useless to argue, and, trembling all over, said:
-You are very kind to me.
And so the lions chewed off the poor bull's hind leg and began to eat. And the bull, bleeding, fell and died. Then the lions decided:
- Since this bull is dead anyway, we will eat all of him now.
And they continued their feast.
At this time a fox passed by. She also wanted to eat meat. She sneaked up unnoticed, grabbed the bull's heart and hid behind a tree.
And the seven lions ate the bull to the last bone, and when their feast was over, they began to ask each other in surprise:
-Where is his heart? Maybe this bull had no heart at all?
Then the fox came out of his hiding place and, licking his lips, said:
- You are mistaken, sir. He had a heart, but he didn’t have a mind. Otherwise he wouldn't hang out with you.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru