The Horse and the Goat's Load
Once upon a time, in the heart of a windy valley where cool waters flowed, a market famed far and wide used to be held. In this market the villagers would offer the buyers the most precious crops they had grown and their most prized animals. An old merchant had brought a magnificent horse whose mane gleamed like gold, along with a cheerful goat that never left its side. When the richest farmer of the town saw this colt, swift as a storm, he could not take his eyes off it in admiration. Yet the old merchant had no intention whatsoever of separating these two friends. The rich farmer, approaching the merchant with a proud air, stated that he wished to buy only that noble horse.
Stroking his beard, the old man smiled and said, "That is impossible, sir, without the goat the horse will not take a single step." The cunning buyer, who offered to double the price, did not want to burden himself with a peevish goat. "I do not buy loyalty, I only want a strong mount that will serve my work," he said, scorning the goat. Thereupon the aged merchant untied the horse's halter, whispered into its ear and drew a step back. The noble steed, now free, suddenly grew wild without the goat's joyful bleating and reared up peevishly. However hard the farmer tried, he could not manage to calm the enormous animal at all.
When the little goat came up to the horse's feet with a sweet air, the proud steed at once grew calm and laid its head on her back. Frozen before this unshakable friendship he had witnessed, the farmer had finally understood the source of true strength. He grasped that the tiny goat he had scorned was a hidden jewel that gave serenity to the noble steed's soul. The man, cleansed of his greed, bought them both without any hesitation and set off for his farm. From that day on, the strong horse and the lovely goat ran merrily side by side in the wide fields. The farmer, for his part, lived the most bountiful and peaceful years of his life thanks to this splendid pair. True love and devotion are the foundation and the indispensable complement even of the greatest strengths. One stone does not make a wall, one tree does not make a forest.