Four Friends

Long long ago, there lived four animals in a forest – an elephant, a monkey, a rabbit and a pheasant. There arose a question, as to who was to be venerated, and they all agreed that the oldest deserved the most respect. But who among them was the oldest?

The elephant said, “The tree was fully grown when I was young.”

The monkey replied, “I remember seeing this as a small tree.”

The rabbit said, “I have seen this tree as a sapling.”

And

The pheasant said “I carried the seed from which this tree has grown.”

The animals agreed that the pheasant was the oldest.

Now they were hungry, and the tree was laden with fruits. But how could they reach it? The tree was huge, and the fruits on the highest branches. The elephant’s trunk could reach only the lowest branches, the monkey was old, and couldn’t jump so high, the rabbit was too small, and the pheasant couldn’t fly so high. How then, could they reach the fruits?

The four friends decided that alone, they couldn’t get the fruits. Together, they could. How? The younger would lift the older ones so they would eventually reach the higher branches laden with fruits.

And so, the elephant lifted the monkey on its back, the monkey lifted the rabbit, the rabbit lifted the pheasant, and the pheasant hopped on to the branches to reach the fruits! They ate to their hearts content, and lived together in harmony ever after.