A modern parable about how misguided love and compassion can harm others. Love that causes harm is not love.
The Parable of “Two Shepherds and a Foolish Horse”
In one area, there lived two shepherds, and each of them tended a herd of horses. Early in the morning, the shepherds led the horses to different pastures, and in the evening they returned, each to his own village. One day, a horse strayed from its herd and ran to another hill, where other horses were grazing.
There was plenty of food and water there, so it decided to stay. After some time, the shepherd of the lost horse arrived and was glad to find it. Since he was older and wiser, he gave the young shepherd this advice:
“If this happens again, drive the horse away immediately, and then it will return. But do not give it anything to drink or eat, or it will not want to come back.” He took his horse and left.
The next day, the same horse ran over again. The young shepherd wanted to take his staff and drive it away, but he felt sorry for it. He thought, “Perhaps it does not have enough food or water, and that is why it keeps coming here.” He decided to let the horse eat and drink its fill, and then drive it away from the herd.
After some time, when the shepherd decided to drive the horse away, it refused to leave and continued running alongside the herd. By evening, the other shepherd came and forcibly led his horse away. The next day, it all happened again.
When evening came, the experienced shepherd came for his horse again and asked the young man whether he allowed it to eat from the feed troughs and drink from the water troughs. The young shepherd admitted that he did, because he felt sorry for it.
Then the experienced shepherd firmly asked him not to do that anymore and to drive the horse away as soon as it came running over. After taking his horse, the shepherd brought it to the village and decided to tie it up so that it would not run away again. The next day, the shepherd left the horse tied in the yard and led the entire herd to pasture.
As soon as he disappeared from view, the foolish horse began kicking and jumping, trying to break the rope. After many attempts, it broke the rope, dashed out of the yard, and ran to its favorite hill.
When the young shepherd saw the horse, he felt sorry for her again. Moreover, he saw rope wounds on her neck, and of course he did not drive her away; he treated the wounds and anointed them with oil. Evening came, and as usual, the shepherd expected the horse’s owner to come for her, but he did not come that evening.
The shepherd continued waiting until dusk, but no one came for the horse. He had to return to the village, because after sunset wolves came out of the forest, and it was dangerous to remain in the pasture.
The shepherd was honest and understood that he could not take someone else’s horse with him. He took his staff and began driving her away so that she would run back to her own herd. When he finally drove her away, he led his herd home.
The foolish horse did not want to return home because she was afraid they might tie her up again. She decided to spend the night in the field so that in the morning she could run back to her favorite pasture.
The old shepherd waited a long time for his horse outside. He called for her repeatedly, but when it grew dark, he went into the house. He sat down and became sad, thinking that the young shepherd had taken his horse. However, being a kind man, he decided to leave everything as it was, hoping that the horse would be better off in the new herd.
The next morning, as usual, the shepherds led their herds to their pastures. As the day drew to a close, the young shepherd was surprised that the horse had not come to him that day. He was a good man, and this made him happy; he understood that the horse had remained with her owner.
However, neither shepherd even suspected that the foolish horse was already dead. Wolves attacked her during the night and tore her apart.
Author: Dmitriy Leo
