The sun had finally come out after days of rain. The clouds in the sky were few and far. It was a clear morning.
The villagers had come out into their paddy fields to tend to their ripened crops. As far as the eyes could see, the fields were shades of green and yellow and brown, like a priceless painting on a clean canvas.
A herd of sheep was grazing in the green pasture adjacent to the fields. A brown horse was strolling nearby.
In the morning breeze, which was fresh and soothing, the animals looked sad. The sheep as well as the horse were unhappy. The horse for being the horse, and the sheep for being the sheep.
“I wish I were like you,” the horse told the sheep. “Small and light. I could graze without creating potholes under my hoofs with every step I take. I loathe my big body.”
“We wish we were mighty like you,” a sheep from the herd said. “We could stroll around with pride. The earth would shake with our every step.”
An old owl in a tall tree quietly listened to the conversation.
Clouds in the sky thickened, then turned grey. It began to rain once again. The humans gathered their tools and ran to their homes. The animals followed.
When they returned the next morning, humans to the fields and animals to the pasture, rainwater had collected in the potholes the horse had created. And sparrows and crows were drinking that water.
Fresh flowers had blossomed in the grass neatly trimmed by the sheep, and bees and butterflies were sucking their nectar.
The animals were seeing this intently, as was the old owl from the top of his tree.
The breeze was still fresh and soothing. And the owl began to sing:
‘Everything has a reason
Nothing is for nothing,
Let the horse be the horse,
And let the sheep be the sheep’
The humans as well as the animals were drawn to the song. Its melody and wisdom. The humans enjoyed the melody; the animals got the wisdom, the answer to their questions.
The horse walked with pride, not minding the ditches it caused in the damp soil. The sheep returned to grazing with a craftsman’s delight.
The day had dawned. The morning was getting brighter.
