This is a story I read in a few different sources in Turkish, it’s called “Sari Okuz”, which means “The Yellow Ox”. I don’t quite know where it originates, maybe a La Fontaine story, though I couldn’t find it.
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Once upon a time, in a forest far away, all the lions of the forest assembled in a meeting.
The situation was dire, as the food was awfully scarce. “When we attack the monkeys, they run to the trees” they thought. “The elephants are too large, the gazelles too fast, the birds fly, and surely we’re not going to go after the fishes?”. The lions didn’t know what to do.
“Let’s attack the oxen!” one of them eagerly suggested. “They’re big and tough, but they don’t have either claws or big teeth. We can easily overcome them.” And so it was, the herd of lions attacked the oxen.
But things didn’t pan out quite as they thought. The oxen were an organized bunch, they warily defended themselves together, and fenced off the lions.
The lions were hungry. What were they to do? “Let’s consult the fox”, proposed one of them, and so they did. “A piece of cake”, said the fox. “Make me the prince of the pasture in which the ox herd lives, and I’ll solve your problem”. The lions gladly accepted.
The next day, the fox approached the oxen with a white flag. “Dear oxen,” he said. “The lions are a peaceful kind, really, and they like you very much. But do you see that yellow ox over there? He’s the problem right there. His color is too bright, when they see him they get agitated, they must eat him. Sacrifice that one, and solve your problem. Live in peace, live in serenity.”
A tough decision was awaiting the council of the oxen, but at the end they decided to give away the yellow ox. For the greater good, they said. The lions ate happily.
One day passed, and then the second. The fox came again. “As you see,” he said, “the attacks of the lions have stopped”. Then he added: “but that spotty ox over here, so long he’s here, you won’t have peace. They desire him terribly, let them have him, live in peace”.
Once again it was a tough decision for the ox council, and once again they decided to give the lions what they wanted. For the greater good.
The fox came again.
For the ox with the long tail.
For the ox with the white nose.
For the ox with the fat behind.
Took them one by one.
The pasture got sparser, the lions got fatter. One day, the fox didn’t come. Because there was no need, the lion came by himself. “Whomever among you that I want, whomever I desire, you’ll give me him. You don’t want to make any trouble, I assure you” he said.
By then, the oxen were few, and they were scared. They had no choice, their fate was sealed. They thought to themselves: “We were strong, and we were surviving. What in the world happened?”. It was difficult, but finally they admitted themselves the truth: “We lost this war the day we gave the yellow ox away”.
***
I’m not going to be too wordy about the moral of the story. The yellow ox is whatever you think it is. Perhaps it’s the Sudetenland in 1939, and the ox council is Neville Chamberlain. Perhaps it’s the Jewish settlements of the Gaza Strip in 2005, and the ox council is Ariel Sharon. And who knows, perhaps it’s the Israel-US relationship in 2010, and the ox council is the Obama administration. The bottom line is, before you attempt to appease anybody, find out what is it that they truly want. Most of the times, it’s not even that difficult to see, but we choose to ignore it to make way for our wishful thinking.
