ONCE upon a time there was an Ox named Big Red. He had a
younger brother named Little Red. These two brothers did all the carting on a
large farm.
Now the farmer had an only daughter and she was soon to be
married. Her mother gave orders that the Pig should be fattened for the wedding
feast.
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Little Red noticed that the Pig was fed on choice food. He
said to his brother, "How is it, Big Red, that you and I are given only
straw and grass to eat, while we do all the hard work on the farm? That lazy
Pig does nothing but eat the choice food the farmer gives him."
Said his brother, "My dear Little Red, envy him not.
That little Pig is eating the food of death! He is being fattened for the
wedding feast. Eat your straw and grass and be content and live long."
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Not long afterwards the fattened Pig was killed and cooked
for the wedding feast.
Then Big Red said, "Did you see, Little Red, what
became of the Pig after all his fine feeding?"
"Yes," said the little brother, "we can go
on eating plain food for years, but the poor little Pig ate the food of death
and now he is dead. His feed was good while it lasted, but it did not last
long."
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From: JATAKA TALES
ISBN: 978-1-907256-20-2
A percentage of the
profits will be donated to UNICEF.
