The Persuasive Power of Little Lambs

(Clearwisdom.Net) There was a rancher whose neighbor was a hunter. The hunter had a pack of vicious hunting dogs. These dogs frequently jumped over the fence and attacked the rancher's little lambs. The rancher asked his neighbor to keep the dogs away from his lambs. His neighbor agreed but did not take it seriously. A few days later, the dogs got into the ranch again and hurt quite a few lambs.

The rancher could not stand this any longer and went to the town's judge for justice. After hearing his complaint, the judge said, "I could punish that hunter and order him to lock up his dogs. But you will lose a friend and gain an enemy. Do you want an enemy or a friend as your neighbor?"

"Of course, I want a friend as my neighbor," answered the rancher.

"Okay, then, I offer you a solution to keep your lambs safe and get yourself a friendly neighbor," said the judge. Hearing the judge's idea, the rancher agreed wholeheartedly.

After the rancher got home, he picked three of the cutest little lambs as gifts to the hunter's three sons, just as the judge suggested to him. The hunter's kids loved the gentle little lambs very much and played with them every day after school. To protect his sons' lambs, the hunter built a big cage and locked up his dogs. From then on, the rancher's lambs were never attacked again.

The hunter started to give the rancher all kinds of game that he caught to thank the rancher. The rancher also gave the hunter mutton and cheese in return. Gradually they became good friends.

To convince a person, the best approach is to be considerate of him and show him kindness.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2005/6/17/104264.html

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