The Man and the Rhinoceros
Once upon a time, at the edge of an old forest where cool waters flowed, there lived an ambitious and arrogant hunter. This man had set his mind on capturing the legendary wild rhinoceros, the most magnificent dweller of the forest. He girded on his gold-inlaid spear and began to advance resolutely along the path shaded by dense trees. As he went deeper into the forest, the cheerful songs of the birds ceased and an eerie silence covered everything around. Every step he took among the moss-covered mighty oaks carried him to the threshold of a sorrowful experience. At that very moment the ground shook with a loud bellow that rocked the earth.
The majestic rhinoceros, bursting out from among the trees, pointed its sharp horn at the hunter and ran at him in fury. Terrified, the man stumbled as he fled for his life and tumbled down a deep cliff. At the last moment he managed to grab a shrub root and hang in the middle of the cliff. When he looked down, he saw a terrible dragon waiting in the bottomless darkness. When he looked up, he noticed that the angry rhinoceros was still panting with rage. Just then a drop of honey trickling from a crack in the rock reached his nose.
The helpless man reached his finger to the honey, and when he tasted that sweet drop, he forgot for a moment the danger he was in. Seeing the man's careless manner, the rhinoceros spoke in a deep and majestic voice. "That you are deceived by a little sweetness even on the edge of death shows how weak mankind is," it said. The rhinoceros calmed its anger and drew back, giving the hunter a chance to climb to level ground. Climbing out of the pit with difficulty, the hunter understood what a disaster his ambition had dragged him into. Throwing his spear to the ground, the man promised himself that he would never again disturb the balance of nature. A person caught by the sweet spell of passing whims is deprived of seeing the great dangers right beside him. Sharp vinegar harms its own jar.