Once upon a time, a king said to his minister, “When we

talk about productivity, the dogs seem to be more

productive than the goats. But why do we see only herds

of goats instead of packs of dogs? Can you explain

that?”

The smart minister replied, “Your Majesty, allow me to

carry out an experiment and you shall know why.”

In the evening, the minister locked up twenty dogs in a

house with a basket full of pancakes. In another house,

the minister locked up another twenty goats with a

basket full of hay. The minister ordered that the houses

be locked up and guarded carefully. Then he told the

king, “Your Majesty, you’ll have the answer by

tomorrow morning.”

The next morning, they returned to the two houses. When

the minister ordered the guards to open the house in

which the dogs were kept, they saw that the dogs had

fought each other to death while the basket of pancakes

was left untouched.

Then the minister and the king came to the other house

which had the goats locked up. They saw that the goats

were lying close to each other, deep asleep. The basket

of hay was now empty.

“Your Majesty.” the minister said, “the dogs didn’t eat their

food but they fought to death for it. The goats, however,

ate the hay and slept together. That is why the goats can

flourish and grow in bigger numbers while the dogs keep

fighting amongst themselves. It is the same with people.

When they keep fighting each other, they will never

prosper.”

The king was happy with the minister’s answer.

Moral:

If people do not learn to share, there will be no harmony.