Here is another nice story from the collection of
Jataka kathaye / tales. Once upon a time, there lived two friends in the
shade of a rock. It would sound strange, but one of them was a lion and
the other was a tiger. They were friends since their childhood. They
knew each other from the time, when they were too small to understand
the difference between the lions and the tigers. Thus, their friendship
was not at all strange to them.
Moreover, the part of the mountain under which they lived was peaceful;
it could be due to the presence of a monk who lived under the same rock.
He was a hermit, one who lives far away from worldly affairs. One day,
the two friends got into a stupid argument for some unknown reason. The
Tiger said,” Everyone knows that cold comes when the moon decreases
from full to new”. The Lion said, “You are a stupid fellow.
From where did you hear such nonsense? Everyone knows that cold comes
when the moon increases from new to full”.
The argument between them became stronger and stronger. Both of them
were firm at their own opinion. They could not arrive at any conclusion
to resolve the growing disagreement. They even started calling ill names
to each other. Suddenly, they thought that like this they would lose
their friendship. At last, they decided to go and ask the learned monk,
who would definitely know about the actual answer.
Both of them went together to the peaceful monk and bowed respectfully
before him. The hermit asked them the reason for their sudden arrival.
They put their question to him and said, “Sir, only you can answer
to this problematic question”. The hermit thought for a while and
said, “It can be cold in any phase of the moon, from new to full
and back to new again. It is the wind that brings the cold, whether from
west or north or east. Therefore, both of you are right and neither of
you is defeated by the other”.
The hermit also said, “Both of you share healthy friendship since
your childhood. It is not good to get into arguments and think about
separation. The most important thing is to live without conflict, to
remain united. Unity is best by all means”. The Lion and the Tiger
understood the message of the wise monk. They thanked him for the kind
suggestion given by him. Both of them lived happily thereafter as good
friends.
Moral: Weather comes and weather goes, but friendship remains.
