In a village at the foot of a mountain, many poor families lived in small huts. Frequently, animals like elephants, foxes, and lions would descend from the mountain at night to drink water. Because of this, the villagers rarely ventured out after dark. Sometimes, these wild animals would attack and eat the villagers’ goats, cows, and chickens.
To prevent this, the villagers came up with a plan. They hung a large drum from a tree deep in the forest. When the wind blew, the leaves would rub against the drum, producing a noise that scared away the animals. This worked for a while, and the villagers were relieved.
One day, however, a fox wandered into the area. As the wind blew, the drum made its usual sound. Hearing this, the fox became frightened and ran to the top of the mountain to observe. The fox thought to itself, “There must be some animal living inside that drum. If I can kill it, I’ll have food for days!”
But every time the fox got closer to the drum, the sound frightened it, and it ran away. Other foxes asked, “Where do you keep going?” To this, the cunning fox lied, saying, “I’m just searching for some animals to hunt.” The fox was determined to be the only one to enjoy the feast it imagined was inside the drum.
One day, the fox mustered enough courage to climb the tree and hit the drum. When that didn’t work, it used its teeth, claws, and all its strength to tear the drum apart. Exhausted, bleeding from its effort, the fox finally looked inside—only to find the drum empty. There was nothing but an old hollow shell.
Ashamed and humiliated, the fox thought, “If I return in this state, everyone will laugh at me.” So, it concocted a lie. When the other foxes rushed to meet it, concerned about its injuries, the fox proudly declared, “I fought a great battle with a mighty animal, and I killed it. These wounds are proof of my victory.”
But inside, the fox was in pain, both from its injuries and from the lesson it had learned. In its greed, it had been willing to suffer for something that didn’t even exist. In the end, the fox realized that trying to hoard everything for oneself only leads to suffering.