The Parable of the Three Horses

Once there lived a lord who had three horses. One was as white as snow. The second an earthly brown. The third a moonless night. The white horse was well fed and grew strong and sturdy while the other two grew weak through years of neglect.

One day the lord had to travel to a distant land.He said to himself, "I am a just man. I shall equally divide the burden on my three horses so that none can complain of any injustice."

He was about to load the horses when the lady of the house came out. She said, "Are you going to put equal burden on them? Can't you see that the white horse is strong while the others are weak? Give them weights that each can carry. Now that would be justice."

The lord thought for a moment and found that his wife was right. So he put the heavier load on the white horse and lighter ones on the other two.

On seeing this, the white horse said,"What injustice is this! Why must I suffer more because you two are weak? Why must I shoulder this additional burden?"

The brown horse said, "O brother, don't you see? You are strong, while we are weak. It is only justice that our weights be lighter than yours."

As they argued about this, they heard a thud from behind them. The black horse had collapsed. From under the heap, she said,"O White brother! Why do you complain now? Where was your justice all these years? Did you ever worry about our unequal treatment? Had you shared your food with us, we too would have been strong now and shared your burden."

"She is right! Where was your justice all these years?" asked the brown horse.

The black horse laughed. "O Brown brother! You think you are any better? We both suffered under our master and you very well knew I was weaker than you. Yet you feigned yourself to be weaker than you really are and did not think once of the additional wait your sister would have to bear."

Seeing the black horse on the ground, the lord rushed to her side. "This horse is weaker than I thought." So saying, he lightened her burden further and she was able to stand up again.

The other two horses said,"Indeed our master is a kind and just man."

"Is it so?"

"Has he not lightened your burden? Shouldn't you be grateful to him."

"Even now he has not realised his mistake. He thinks we are weak by birth and treats us with pity. All he does is lighten our burden and doesn't spare a thought about nurturing us back to health. Had he done so, it would have not only helped us but would also have benefited him."