The valuable things!

Once upon a time, the entire region of Silbaripuram was a dense, impenetrable jungle. One day, a lion came prowling from the eastern side of the forest, chasing after the animals. At the very same time, a tiger was driving a herd of animals from the western side towards the east.

However, the clever animals outsmarted them both; they climbed up trees or hid inside rocky crevices, leaving the predators with nothing. Just then, a rabbit lost its grip and fell down from a rock!

Both the lion and the tiger rushed towards the spot where the rabbit had fallen. The injured rabbit was unable to run away. The lion declared, "I am the one who chased this pack of rabbits here!"

The tiger roared back, "No! This rabbit was among the animals running in fear of me."

First, they started a heated argument. Both insisted on having the full share. Soon, the argument turned into a violent fight. They were so busy attacking each other that they didn’t even notice a fox sneaking in, grabbing the rabbit, and bolting away!

The lion and the tiger only looked up when they heard a monkey laughing loudly from a tree branch. The monkey teased them, "Hey, you fools! The thing you were fighting over... you’re never going to get it now."

They quickly looked around for the rabbit, but there was nothing there.

"Where is the rabbit?" both animals asked the monkey at once.

He replied, "It is already sitting inside the fox’s stomach!"

Disappointed and defeated, the lion and the tiger walked away in opposite directions.

The Moral

There are many people who get into big fights and court litigations over petty matters. They should be careful—while they argue, they might end up losing much more valuable things like their wealth and health on the other side!