Once, three bulls lived in a forest - one white, one black, and one red. A lion coveted them but could not devour them all at once. He said to the black and red bulls, “Look, the white bull alone draws the enemy’s attention and reveals our location because his color is different from ours and from all the other animals in the jungle. If you let me eat him, we can live in peace afterward.” The bulls agreed, and the lion devoured the white bull.
Later, the lion grew hungry again and told the red bull, “My color matches yours. Let me eat the black bull, and we will live in peace afterward.” The red bull consented, and the lion devoured the black bull. Then, after a few days, the lion turned to the red bull and said, “I will surely eat you.” The red bull bowed his head and asked for one last wish - a single moment to speak his mind.
The lion, curious, granted it. With a trembling voice, the red bull cried out, “I was already eaten the day the white bull was eaten!” All our bulls have been eaten, in all colors. Some were roasted over blazing fires, and others perished in the cold, frozen and dull, stripped of feeling. Some bulls chose to become the lion’s servants, and their only task was to betray their own kind. Only cows now remain on our farms. But one day, a bull will be born from the womb of these cows to rewrite the rules of the game. For every revolution, there comes a bull that all beasts must fear.
An old man’s test of his daughters-in-law There was an old man who had three married sons. One day, he decided to visit each of his sons, staying with them for one day, to see how their wives would treat him. He first visited his eldest son and asked to spend the night there. The next morning, he requested his daughter-in-law for some water to perform ablution. After completing it, he deliberately poured the remaining water onto the bed. When his daughter-in-law brought him tea, he said, “My dear daughter, please forgive me, I have wet the bed.” She became very angry and scolded him harshly. Then she told him to wash the bed himself and warned him never to do it again. The old man pretended to be calm and washed the bed.
The next day, he visited his second son and repeated the same act. When his daughter-in-law discovered what had happened, she was angry and told her husband, but he did not reprimand her and stayed silent.
Finally, the old man visited his youngest son and repeated the same test. When he told his youngest daughter-in-law that he had wet the bed, she replied gently, “It’s alright, father. This often happens to old people. When we were children, we wet our parents’ clothes, and they always cared for us.” The youngest daughter-in-law took the bed, washed it, and perfumed it without showing any distress or annoyance.
The old man then asked his youngest daughter-in-law for her hand size, claiming he wanted to buy jewelry for a friend. He then went to the market and spent all his money on gold. The next day, he gathered his three sons and their wives and said, “I did not wet the bed. It was only a test to see who would care for me in my old age.” He gave the gold to his youngest daughter-in-law, saying, “You are the daughter I will rely on in my old age.” The two eldest sons and their wives were shocked and filled with regret. The old man concluded, “What you do for me today, your children will do for you in the future. My youngest son will live a life of dignity because his wife values and respects parents.”
This is how one should honor and care for their parents, especially in their old age. Remember, everything we give today will return to us one day.
