Moral Story | Never
Pretend to Be What You Are Not
A false show leads to a miserable end.
People falsely pretend to be what they are not. They have to face disgrace and
insult when they are exposed. So, we should not pretend to be what we are not.
This truth is explained beautifully in the following story.
Long, long ago, a potter lived in
certain village. He had brought up an ass to carry these earthen pots to the
city. The ass was very healthy and smart but very foolish like other asses. One
day, he planned to evade his master and run away into a jungle. When he was
roaming about here and there, he found the skin of a lion he put it on his body
and began to wander the jungle at ease. Wherever he went, the animals were
frightened of him and ran away from him. No animal dared confront him or come
near him. He was very delighted and pleased with being so free to roam all over
the jungle. After a few days, his master, wandering in search of him, happened
to come there. He decided to frighten him also. He, at once, came before him.
No sooner did his master see so huge and colossal lion, he was frightened and
took to his heels. The situation amused the ass so much that he tried to roar
like a lion.
You know “Nature cannot change.”
He absolutely forgot that he would not
be able to utter the roar of the loin. This braying was unbelievable to his
master. It was against nature. Wonderstruck, he stopped to discover the
reality. The foolish ass kept on braying in his ecstasy. At last, his master recognized
him by his ugly voice. He came back in a great fury, put a rope round his neck
and tied him with a tree. Then he cut a huge branch of a tree, made a cudgel of
it and beat the ass mercilessly. No, the heirs realized his mistake but there
was no use in it.
Moral:
- A false show leads to a miserable end.
- Never pretend to be what you are not.