There once was a village of farmers, who dedicated every day of their lives to provide food for their families and the King. The labor they would encounter daily was exhausting and rigorous. Once they harvested their crop, they would carry the produce on their backs all the way to the village, which was about two miles away. They would be out on the fields before the sun came up, and would not go back to the village until sunset.
One day while the farmers were gathering the bundles from their corn harvest, a wounded horse approached them desperate for help. The village quickly fetched the village doctor to see if he could do something about the horse’s infected wound. The doctor made some herbal medicine for the horse and by the next day the horse was no longer feeling any pain from the wound.
During his couple of days of recovery, the horse would watch how the farmers would struggle to get to and from home on their weary two feet. The horse thought to himself, “These farmers have made my pain go away, and now maybe I can repay them by helping them carry some weight since I am stronger with my two extra feet.” After a few days of helping the farmers and being well fed, the horse found himself enjoying the company of the men so he thought “I shall bring my herd to establish a new home here with the farmers as they can feed us and care for any health issues we have.”
The next day the horse came back with all his herd to the village after telling them of the great hospitality he had received from the farmers. The farmers had no idea that the horse they had cured was the leader of a herd, and were in disbelief seeing all of the horses willing to help them. They were astounded that their hard worked days were now going to be a lot easier to handle with all the help.
Along with the heard there was one horse who stood out over all the others. This horse was a black stallion who stood firm, bigger, and was a beautiful black color that would shine from a mile away. This was the leader’s son and was the heir to his father. The farmers were in awe by his beauty and insisted that this horse had to be shown to the King.
The King received news about the black stallion horse and he wasted no time traveling to the village. Once arriving at the village, he saw the stallion playing with the children and giving them rides wherever they pleased. The King was speechless as he had never seen such a species who was so big and strong but so kind and loving.
He quickly talked to the farmers to negotiate for the stallion and they told him that if the stallion was willing, he could keep him as a gift in exchange for letting them harvest their crops for themselves to make a living instead of getting by day to day. He agreed and took the black stallion back to the kingdom where together they would take part in multiple wars in years to come.
Authors Note:
This story is very similar to "The King's White Elephant" by Ellen C. Babbitt. In that story there is an injured elephant who goes to some carpenters for help because he had a splinter in his foot that they took out. The elephant was very happy and thankful for the carpenters generosity and helped them pull out trees, and roll out logs for as long as he could. One day he notices he is no longer strong nor young so he brings his son the white elephant to work with him. After he would work during the days the young white elephant would go to the river to play with the children. One evening while the white elephant and children were playing by the river, the King happens to go down the river and sees the elephant. He then talks to the villagers and negotiates a price to take the white elephant back home where he would care for him for the rest of his life. My story is similar just with different characters. The white elephant is a black stallion in my story and the carpenters are farmers.
Bibliography:
"The King's White Elephant" from the Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt.
Web Source.
