Be Yourself

There lived a flock of sheep on the slopes of a mountain. They often kept moving around to the peaks and valleys in search of fresh green grass to feed upon. 

One evening as they came to a riverbank, they came upon a little lion cub, which was looking lost, weak and lonely. The leader of the flock was moved by pity for this tiny little lost creature.

He decided to take care of this lost lion cub and took him home. The little cub was brought up along with the little lambs of the flock. 

One spring morning, the sheep went down to the beautiful valley to graze on the freshly sprouted grass. 

The young playful lambs frolicked about. One of the games they played was to bleat loudly, and see who was the loudest. 

When it was the turn of the lion cub to bleat, he tried but what came out was a hoarse, jarring sound. 

The lambs laughed and made fun of him. The little cub felt embarrassed and sad. He tried hard but just could not manage even a tiny bleat.

Upset, he quietly slunk away from the flock and walked for miles, lost and confused. When it was evening, he felt weak and exhausted, and saw a big creature  approaching him. It was a fully grown lion. 

The big lion looked down kindly on the little cub and asked what was the matter for his looking so sad. The cub told him that he had lost badly in the contest of bleating. 

The lion looked surprised and asked him why he wanted to bleat, and the cub replied that he was a lamb and playing this game with his friends.

He could not bear losing and had strayed away from his flock. 

The surprised lion said sternly, “ You are a lion cub, why do you call yourself a lamb, and how can you bleat? We lions can only roar!”

The cub could not understand what the big lion was saying. He had never seen a lion till now, and he firmly believed that he was a lamb. 

The lion gently told him that he was a lion like himself, but the cub would have none of it. 

Finally, the lion wanted to show him who he really was, and took him to the riverside. When they reached the edge of the river, the lion peered into the water and asked the cub to do the same. 

The cub could not believe the big lion's reflection as well as his own, looking like a miniature version of the big animal. 

Now, the lion explained to him that he had always been a lion's cub and would always be one, no matter who his friends were. 

He showed him how to roar and slowly the cub learnt how to do it, and experienced the joy of knowing who he truly was. 

The moral of the story is that it is useless to put one's acquired habits through a test. It is important to examine one's true nature and be guided by it while interacting with others in the world.

Always examine nature, and never the other habits of a person. All habits and characteristics fade away, but one's true nature always comes to the fore.

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