In a small village, chaos breaks out one sunny morning. A
buzzing bee flew straight across the town square and landed on the
mayor's bench. "Mayor! Justice! Squirrels ruined my beehive!" The
mayor, a kind but firm man, called his assistant. "Bring the squirrel at
once."
Soon, the squirrel was
dragged into the square, trembling as he spoke. "It wasn't my fault, Mr.
Mayor! I was gathering acorns when the fox jumped and startled me. I
panicked, knocked on the hive, and ran. The fox caused all this! Ask him
first!"
The mayor sends his assistant to find the fox, who comes
across as angry and defensive. "That's nonsense," cried the fox.
"I ran because the owl screeched out of nowhere! It scared the fur
out of me, so I bolted. The owl's fault, not mine."
The assistant sighed
and went to find the owl. When the owl was brought before the mayor, he
adjusted his feathers and said in his deep, calm voice, “I screamed because a snake
was passing very close to my house. My eggs were in danger, so I called for
help. Judge the snake, not me!”
The mayor, growing tired, indicated to find the snake. The
snake came and laughed and said, "Look, Mayor, I didn't want to bother
anyone. The porcupine pushed me with his coolie, and I was just trying
to get away! Talk to him, not me."
Now it was the
porcupine's turn. He stood nervously in front of the crowd. "It wasn't on
purpose, sir. I was scared when the rabbit struck like lightning. I
didn't even see the snake there. Ask the rabbit—he started it all."
The rabbit was eventually tracked down after a wild chase
and brought before the mayor, still gasping for air. "It's not my
fault!" He protested. “The sparrow flew so low and so fast, it
scared me. I just ran for cover. Blame him!”
When the sparrow was
found, he sat on the mayor's podium and screamed angrily. "Mayor, I was
just trying to avoid a hawk! I had to dive down to be safe. None of this
was intentional, I swear. And if you really want to blame someone, blame the
wind—that's what warned me!" At this point, the mayor looked up at the
sky, putting his hands on his hips. "Wind! Care to explain yourself?"
But the wind only roared through the trees, silent and untouched.
The mayor sighed and faced the crowd. "Enough! This
whole mess started because everyone reacted in fear and panic. No one wanted to
do any harm, and yet here we are pointing the finger. Let's learn from this:
Before we let fear rule over us, let's stop, think, and Trust each other more.
Now go home, bees, and we'll help you rebuild your hive."
Since then, the villagers have tried to be quieter, a
little more thoughtful, and the town square has been quiet and peaceful - well,
most of the time.
This story is not just about grassland animals; It's about
us. Blame is a natural response when things go wrong - it feels like a quick
fix, a way to explain away problems but as the story shows, this often creates
more confusion than clarity.
The fault does not appear only in imaginary meadows. It's
everywhere—at work, in the family, and even in how we think about ourselves. As
John Burroughs wisely said,
A man
may fail many times, but he doesn't fail until he starts blaming someone else.
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