The Wild Pet

Once in a forest, there lived an ascetic who had a pet elephant whom he had reared since it was just a baby. But all his fellow hermits felt it was risky to have a wild elephant as a pet.

One day the Bodhisattva, who was his teacher, told him, “My son, it was kind of you to rear this motherless elephant. But now that he has grown up and is strong enough to fend for himself, I will advise you to leave him on his own. Since we stay in the forest, the elephant is well acquainted with the wild. He may drop his benign nature and behave like a wild elephant at any moment.”

But the stubborn ascetic laughed away his teacher’s advice. One day, when all the hermits were away in a nearby village, the elephant was seized with frenzy. His master was the only one present in the forest and in a fit of madness, the elephant killed him.

The author of this story is unknown and greatly appreciated!