The Deer and the Oxen
Once upon a time, there was a huge barn on a rich farm embraced by thick forests. In this barn lived, in peace, sober and gentle oxen that pulled the plough all day long. On a warm autumn evening a weary hart, fleeing from the hunters' hounds, dashed out of the forest. In its desperation it leapt over the fences and threw itself into the dark barn where the oxen stood. Trembling with fear, the hart tried to hide by huddling deep into the heaps of straw. An old ox that saw the hart's helplessness slowly turned its head towards it. "By hiding here you have put yourself in great danger, my poor friend," it said in a low voice.
Panting, the hart begged, "Please protect me; I will go at once when it grows dark." In the late afternoon the farm workers came into the barn and quickly handed out the oxen's fodder. The tired workers, because they were in a hurry, did not notice the hart in the dark corner at all. Thinking it was saved, the hart drew a deep breath and thanked the oxen with gratitude. But the old ox shook its head sadly and warned the hart once more. "The servants are careless, but the real danger has not yet come," it said in a whisper. "The master of the farm sees everything; no detail escapes his eye."
Towards midnight the heavy door of the barn opened with a creak and the master of the farm came in. The master, who examined every place with care, checked first the mangers and then the heaps of straw. He noticed at once the sharp antlers of the hart sticking out from among the straw. The master immediately called his servants and easily had the hidden hart caught. The wretched hart, with nowhere left to flee, paid a heavy price for its carelessness. No hidden truth escapes the eye of one who looks after his own work and his own property. The owner's eye fattens the horse.