A very long, long time ago in Scotland, there was a very, very, very beautiful sheep who lived in a very, very beautiful countryside. Apart from saying “Baahh, baaahh,” he never made any noise or disturbed or did any harm to anyone. He minded his own business; he produced his wool on time, and he just ate a little grass in the meadow. He was a perfectly contented, wonderful, peaceful sheep.

One day, near Christmas time, the husband or so-called owner of the sheep talked to the wife and said, “Hey, darling, Christmas is coming. We’re going to have to kill that beautiful sheep of ours for Christmas Eve dinner.”

Wow! The sheep heard that and he almost had a heart attack. “Oh! Baaahhh! Poor me.” What could he do? He was just a sheep; he did not have fingers to grab any weapon, even if he wanted to. He had only a very simple pure mind, just to think of nothing but the nice meadow, beautiful weather, nice white clouds, green grass and clean water. That was all he could think about, because in the sheep's world there is no such vocabulary like “fight,” “war,” “hatred,” “killing” or “murdering” – nothing like that in the dictionary of the sheep's world. So he tried to think but didn’t know what to do. He decided to run away. He had never been away from the surrounding hills and meadows; he had never been anywhere, but he was so afraid that he had to run for his life.

So he kept running, running and running, until he didn’t know where he was anymore. Lost, he stood there, wondering what to do next and where to go. Suddenly, he saw appearing from behind the little hills two big vicious horns, coming up and up, up and up, higher and higher. And there it was: A big buffalo, with black, big eyes, big horns, a big mouth and big drooling, as he was still chewing his last night's dinner while running. And he was running towards the sheep! The sheep was a little scared, but the buffalo said, “Oh! Mouuuh, I won’t harm you. Mouuuh, no, no, I won’t harm you. Mouuuh; don’t move.” So the sheep didn’t move but said, “What are you doing here, brother Buff?” The buff said, puffing, “You know what? The farmer has been feeding me all this time good grass and good water, so that he can kill me today for Christmas. I didn’t know what to do, so I had to run away! I’ve been running and running, I don’t know how far already, and I’m so tired. I hope I’m safe here. Mouuuh, mouhhh, mouhhhh.”

And then he almost collapsed on his feet, and he was panting for a long time. So the sheep waited until he calmed down and then said, “Brother Buff, I am in the same situation. I also ran away from my keeper because they planned to kill me for Christmas Eve dinner. So I think we should join together, me and you, and we will go find somewhere else to stay and we’ll look after each other. What do you think?” And the buffalo said, “Yes! Mouuuh. Good idea! Let's go!” Together they felt much safer and better. So the two buddies kept walking as far as possible. They didn’t sleep or dare to take a rest. They didn’t stay too long at the stream water, and they didn’t eat too much grass on the way. They just grabbed a sandwich or something quickly, and drank a little juice on the run.

After a while, they found a little goose that came running up, panting and panting, and said, “Quack, quack, quack! Oh, quack, quack, quack!” Then he stopped and almost dropped dead at their feet. The sheep and the buffalo had to go and get some water and sprinkle it on the goose's face. And then he woke up. They said: “Brother Goose, what's wrong with you? Are you in trouble?” “Yes, yes, quack, I’m in trouble. I’m in big, big trouble. Quack, quack, quack!” (Master and everyone laugh) “So what is the trouble?” The goose said, “The ones who have been feeding me all this time, they want to slaughter me for Christmas Eve dinner. I don’t know where I am anymore, or what to do. I’m at a loss. Can you help me? Tell me what I am to do since you are bigger. Protect me from these people!” So the buffalo and the sheep said, “Don’t worry, don’t worry. We’ll take care of you. You look so tired. Why don’t you go to the stream, drink a little bit of something and eat a little bit of these fruits here that we have brought from the forest nearby.” The buffalo said, “And then you can go on top of my back and hang onto my horns. I will carry you. You don’t have to go too far since you are so tired.”

The goose was so happy. Yes, together we are something or someone. So he drank some spring water, ate some fruit and hopped on top of the buffalo. Then, together they were going on their way. After a long while, what did they see again? Another panicking one, a chicken! “Pok, pok, pok, pok, pok!” He came running, panting, flapping his wings and bumping into the three. So they said, “What is the matter with you, sister Chick? Are you in trouble? Are you in need of help?” “Oh yes! Pok, pok, pok, pok... I need it so much! I need help; I need it right now! The ones who keep feeding me, they want to eat me for Christmas dinner. I have to run for my life. Help! Help! Pok, pok, pok...”

So the three of them, again, said, “Don’t worry! The three of us have the same problem. Why don’t you join us? And if you are too tired, jump on top of brother Sheep and then we’ll both carry you far away from your danger. We’re going together to where there are no humans, where there is no one to harm us, but only peace and love among us. Okay, so let's go!” So the two big animals carried the two winged brother and sister on their backs and they were well on their way.

After a little while, there came another running creature again towards them. This time it was a pig. “Groooon, grooooon, help! Help!” The pig was running and panting and bumped into the four. And then the same story was told again: “I was happily eating my dinner, and then I overheard my keepers saying that they were going to slaughter me for Christmas Eve to celebrate the birth of the most compassionate Jesus Christ. I wonder what they have learned from the Master Jesus Christ. But they are thanking Him and want to slaughter me to give thanks. So I had to run for my life and I don’t know where I’m going now. I don’t know how to protect myself from these humans or where to go to be far away from them. I’m in distress. Please help me! I haven’t eaten for a long time, and I’m very exhausted. If I continue like this, I will die.”

So the buffalo felt very sorry for the pig and said, “Oh, don’t worry, brother, we also have the same problem you do, but we have a better solution. We are going together as a herd so no one can attack us alone. It is better if we unite and stand together; we’ll be powerful and we’ll protect each other. So, please join us. Here, we have a little fruit left over and we have some water for you. Please eat and drink; make yourself strong and we’ll be on our way.” So, voila! The pig joined them.

After a while, they encountered another one. Imagine who it was! A Chinese dog who was also running, barking, “Wouf, wouf, wouf!” all the way. After he also almost ran into the buffalo, they stopped him and asked, “Where are you running?” And the dog said, “Oh, I have to run away from my owners because they are going to kill me!” The other animals said, “Why are they going to kill you?” “Oh, they think I’m too old now and I can’t work anymore, so they want to kill me and by the way they can eat my flesh, for Christmas dinner.”

Oh dear God, what a dinner! So the chicken said, “Pok, pok, pok, pok! That's no good. You just join us, yes? We are already going away from humans and we’re going to find a very peaceful, safe place for all of us to settle down and make an animal village. So just come with us. We’re strong, we’re big, and together we are even stronger. Don’t worry about it. Now take a little bit of food that we have for you here and some water, and then we’ll be okay!”

The Friends Find Sanctuary Together

So they were going, going, going and then when they got to the edge of a village, they saw one house. It was a very broken down house, but it was still a house. Everyone stopped. And the dog said, “We’d better hide first to see if there's anyone around before we proceed further.” And the goose said, “Okay, I will fly up to the top of the tree to see what's going on in that house, if there are any humans or if anything is going on, and then we will see what to do.”

Everyone retreated into the woods behind, and the goose flew up to the top of the tree and looked. First he looked far and near but didn’t see any houses yet and no humans in sight. Then he looked into the house in front of him, and he heard something. There were some human noises inside. At first he was shuddering a little bit, but he was very high and hiding behind the foliage, so he felt a little bit safe. He looked through the crack of the broken roof and saw six thieves busy dividing loot among them. There was a lot of gold, silver, diamonds, rubies, emeralds - all kinds of precious stones, precious utensils and precious necklaces, and pearls, all worth a king's fortune. So the goose flew down to tell everyone. He said: “We should wait until it becomes dark and then we can go inside. I will do this and you will do that, and then you can do this and you do that, and then we will scare them away.” So they made a plan.

The buffalo stayed near the front entrance; the sheep stayed at the side door and the dog at the other side door. The goose stayed at the back door and the chicken on the other side of that door. They were all together. Suddenly, they made different noises but in a big togetherness and then it sounded very weird. The thieves were so concentrated on their thieving money that when they suddenly heard such a terrible noise like that, they all ran! They ran away into the forest. So then all the animals entered the house, and they said, “This should be okay; this will be our house.” But the dog said, “What if they come back?” The goose said, “Don’t worry. I have a plan.” So he flapped his wings to turn off all the oil lamps. It became dark and he said, “Okay: Buffalo brother, you guard the front door. Sheep, guard the back door. The dog is on the right door, the chicken on the left door and the pig in the middle under the table.”

Now, after the thieves went into the forest, they didn’t hear anything anymore. No one was chasing after them, and they thought, “Oh, maybe we’ve just been scared of nothing. Let's go back to see who is there.” So they slowly, quietly and secretly tiptoed back into the house. But the animals already had a plan. As the chief of the thieves went inside, it was all dark. He heard nothing, but he entered and suddenly the buffalo kicked him in the “behind” so that he went from the front to the back door. And then there, the sheep also used his head to nudge the thief in the stomach. And then, as he ran to the right side, the dog also gave him a little “teeth souvenir” on his leg. Running to the left side, the chicken pecked him, flapping wings and altogether very noisy. The animals were stamping their feet, barking and shouting, all at the same time.

So the chief was very afraid. He was trying hard to get out, but every time he bumped into an animal, he got another “souvenir.” Finally they edged him out to the front door, and he ran for his life. After he ran back to the forest, he told his waiting subordinates, “Oh! We better run! I don’t know what's in there, but the house must be haunted by many ghosts and devils. Let's run quick before they come and take our souls!” So they all ran away, while the animals stayed in the house, dividing the treasure between themselves.

After that, each one built a big, beautiful house. Slowly, they also got more and more prosperous and made an animal village, which was very beautiful. It was next to a beautiful stream, with a lot of water for everyone and a forest with enough shade and shadow to protect themselves and enough fruit and all kinds of grass and herbs for them to survive. And they lived together, happily ever after. (Applause) More animals also joined them later, and their village expanded. It got bigger and bigger all the time. It was so big that even if any human happened to pass by, they ran away. They knew they better not mess with this village, because it had become very strong now.

Master: Love the Animals

So that is the story of the smart, beautiful, innocent animals. I do hope. (Applause) We together do hope that one day the animals do not have to run away from us, but can stay with us like our domestic friends: the dogs, the cats, the birds, the ducks, the chickens, the geese and the pigs. We hope that every kind of animal will feel safe with us and will feel the friendship and love from humans, and will never have to run away like that again. Suppose it is us who are the pig; suppose it is you who are the buffalo or you who are the geese, how would we feel? We would feel helpless like that, and they are really like human beings. They have a soul, and they have understanding. They understand more than we do; they understand our language, and we don’t understand theirs. So who is more clever? Really! You know that already, if you have dogs, pigs or geese; even they understand it.

<<	Contents	>>
Refer this page to friends