The Horse Egg

In a village in South India, there lived a simple-minded Guru and his five disciples. They were very innocent and believed everything people told them. One day, the Guru called his disciples. “My sons,” he said, rubbing his tired legs. “I am getting old. Walking to the next village is too hard. We should buy a horse.” The disciples nodded eagerly. “Yes, Master! A horse is a great idea.”

They pooled their money and went to the market. But none of them had ever seen a horse before. They walked around looking for something that looked “fast and strong.” On the way home, disappointed, they met a mischievous farmer. The farmer was sitting by his field, next to a large, round, orange pumpkin. The disciples stopped. “Excuse me, sir,” asked one disciple. “What is that magnificent round thing?”

The farmer saw that they were simple folks. He decided to play a trick. “This?” he said, patting the pumpkin. “This is a Horse’s Egg.” “A Horse’s Egg!” gasped the Guru. “I didn’t know horses laid eggs!” “Oh yes,” lied the farmer. “This is a very special breed. If you buy this egg and carry it carefully, in a few weeks, it will hatch into a fine, strong white horse.”

The Guru was delighted. He paid the farmer all their money and took the heavy pumpkin. “Be rareful!” instructed the Guru. “Do not shake the baby horse inside.” The disciples took turns carrying the heavy “egg” on their heads. They walked slowly, stepping softly so they wouldn’t disturb the foal.

As they were walking through a small forest patch, the disciple carrying the pumpkin tripped over a root. “Oh no!” he cried. The pumpkin flew from his hands, hit a big rock, and—SPLAT!—it broke into a hundred pieces. At that exact moment, a frightened brown rabbit, who was sleeping behind the rock, jumped up and dashed away into the bushes. Zooom!

The disciples froze. Their mouths fell open. “Did you see that?” screamed the Guru. “The baby horse! It hatched!” “It was so fast!” cried a disciple. “It ran away before we could catch it!” “It was a brown horse,” said another. “Very small, but very fast.”

They chased the rabbit for an hour, calling out, “Come back, little horse! We are your owners!” But the rabbit was long gone. Tired and sad, they walked back to their ashram. “It is fate,” said the Guru wisely. “Maybe it is for the best. That baby horse ran so fast… if I had ridden him, he might have thrown me off and broken my bones. We are lucky we lost him.” The disciples agreed, praising their Master’s wisdom, and they happily walked the rest of the way home.

Moral of the Story: Ignorance creates problems that don’t exist. It is important to have common sense.