The Stag at the Pool

36.  The Stag at the Pool

One hot afternoon, a majestic stag wandered through the forest in search of water. After walking for a while, he came upon a clear, still pool of water at the edge of a meadow. Feeling thirsty, he bent down to drink.

As he drank, the stag caught sight of his reflection in the water. He marveled at his large, beautiful antlers, which spread wide and looked powerful and grand. "How magnificent my antlers are!" he thought, filled with pride. "They make me look so strong and regal."



But then his eyes moved to his legs. They were thin and spindly, and he frowned in dissatisfaction. "Look at my legs," he muttered to himself. "They are so scrawny and weak compared to my antlers. How unfortunate."

Just as the stag was lost in his thoughts, he heard the sound of a hunter’s horn and the bark of hunting dogs approaching. Startled, the stag leaped into action, running through the forest at great speed.

His thin legs carried him swiftly and gracefully over the ground, far ahead of the pursuing dogs. "My legs may be weak-looking, but they are fast!" he thought, feeling grateful for their agility.


However, as he ran deeper into the forest, his grand antlers—those very antlers he had admired so much—became tangled in the low-hanging branches of the trees. He struggled to free himself, but the more he pulled, the more tightly his antlers became ensnared.

The dogs were closing in, and the stag realized that his antlers, which he had been so proud of, were now the very thing putting him in danger. Despite his frantic efforts, he couldn’t escape in time, and the hunter’s dogs caught up with him.


As the stag lay there, he thought to himself, "How foolish I was to admire what is useless and despise what is truly valuable. My legs, which I thought were my weakness, were my true strength, while my beautiful antlers have led to my downfall."

Moral of the story: What may seem valuable on the surface is not always what matters most. True worth often lies in the qualities we take for granted.

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