Once in a jungle, a wolf came out ofit lair. It was very hungry and went hunting for food.
He walked here and there but could not find prey “If only I could get a rabbit or a baby bear”. But in vain. It decided to go to the stream and fill its stomach with water, “that will at least make me feel better”. It came to the water stream to quench its thirst, where all animals and birds would also come.
The water ran down a slope. The wolf bent down to drink. Its eyes fell on a little rabbit, also drinking water from the stream on other side of slope. “the bunny will do” , thought the wolf. So he started angrily,”How dare you dirty the water”.
The little rabbit shivered in fear. It looked around to find the big wolf. The bunny wished to get away but the wolf stood with its mouth wide open and could not escape. It stopped drinking water.
“Oh great Wolf! I am standing downstream where water flows from you to me”.
It continued ,”so I cant do that!”. The wolf scowled as what the little rabbit said was true. But what the wolf wanted was food.
So it scoffed at the little rabbit, “Then it must be your mother who dirtied the water. ” The little rabbit protested in defence, ” then you have to ask it to my mother.”
“I have no time for that. You have to pay for your mother’s deed”, saying so the wolf pounced on the bunny and made a meal of it.
It is very difficult to lose or change a bad reputation.
Moral of the story: He who wants to beat his dog wil easily find a stick.
Thus, one can always find a reason for what one wants to do.
Give a dog a bad name and hang him is an English proverb. Its meaning is that if a person’s reputation has been besmirched, then he will suffer difficulty and hardship. It is said when someone has been accused of behaving badly in the past, with the result that people expect them to behave like that in the future.
Meaning of terms used:
Besmirched-make (something) dirty, discoloured or damage it
Lair- a place where a wild, fierce or dangerous animal, lives.
Prey- an animal that is hunted and killed by another for food.
Stream-A stream is a body of water with surface water flowing at the banks of a channel. Long large streams are usually called rivers.
Quench-satisfy (one’s thirst) by drinking, Extinguish
Bunny- infant of a rabbit
Scowled- expressing by eyebrows that he is in an angry or bad-tempered way.
Scoffed-speak to someone or about something in a mocking way.
Pounced- spring forward suddenly so as to attack