The Oxen and the Wheels
A pair of Cows were pulling a heavily loaded wagon along a muddy country road. They had to use all their strength to pull the wagon, but they did not complain.
The Wheels of the wagon were of a different sort. Though the task they had to do was very light compared with the Cows, they creaked and groaned at every turn.
The poor Cows, pulling with all their might to draw the wagon through the deep mud, had their ears filled with the loud complaining of the Wheels.
And this, you may well know, made their work so much harder to endure.
“Silence!” the Cows cried at last, out of patience. “What have you Wheels to complain about so loudly? We are pulling all the weight, not you, and we are keeping still about it besides.”
Moral of the story
Actions speak louder than words.
Don’t complain if you’re not doing the hard work.
Questions for the children
- How do you think the Cows felt when the Wheels were complaining loudly?
- Can you think of a time when someone complained about something they didn’t do?
Post Note: This story is based on Aesop’s fable, written around 600 BC. In this retelling, we’ve used simpler words to make the story easier for young readers to understand.
