A Handsome Horse

A wild horse became envious of the zebras which are naturally blessed with beautiful black stripes all over their body. The horse spent sleepless nights meditating about a method to get decorated with beautiful stripes like a zebra. He sought the advice of a monkey who was the best scholar, artist and beautician of the forest. The monkey led the horse to a place where a wildfire had just burnt down several trees. Using the pieces of charcoal from the burnt wood, the monkey painted fine stripes on the body of the horse.

The happy horse thanked the monkey and joined a group of zebras who accepted him without a doubt. As they were grazing together, a heavy rainfall occurred. The 'painted zebra' was in great trouble. The stripes of charcoal dissolved in the rain and created a dirty mess. The stripes lost their outline. The zebras rejected him. The horse ran away with a disfigured body. He came to his own relatives who were reluctant to accept him seeing his weird appearance. Dejected and depressed, he approached the monkey who created the stripes and requested him to end his misery. The monkey led him to a stream and washed his body, rubbing hard with the husk of a coconut. Having restored his natural appearance, the horse watched his appearance in the still water. He said to himself, "I am really beautiful!"


Every creature is blessed with a unique form and appearance. We must be ready to accept the gifts of God instead of worrying about our appearance. Comparing our features with those of others and trying to imitate others creates unnecessary worry. Let us look at the less privileged brothers and thank God for His generous gifts. That is the path to peace and progress.


"Charm is deceptive and beauty disappears..."{Proverbs 31: 30}.


St. Peter advises, "You should not use outward aids to make yourself beautiful, such as the way you do your hair, or the jewellery you put on, or the dresses you wear. Instead your beauty should consist of your true inner self, the ageless beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of the greatest value in God's sight" {1 Peter 3: 3, 4}.

© By: Dr. Babu Philip, Professor, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi-682016, Kerala, India. For more moral stories, parables and anecdotes for students, catechists, teachers and preachers, kindly visit my web-site: http://www.moralstorieschristian.blogspot.com