The waiting buffalo- in-depth story

Once upon a time, far away in the jungle, there lived two animals. They belonged to the same species yet they looked very different. Despite them being contrast in physical appearance they were very close friends and lived together in harmony.

At day break, they grazed near the pond and by night fall they slept under a huge cypress tree which sheltered them from rain. Spring passed followed by the summer and autumn was also at its end. One day as they grazed near the pond, they found that the grass that were eating had become suddenly tasteless. The friends talked of the taste of the grass during the spring season with nostalgia and condemned the dry grass pricking them underneath their jaws while they grazed. 

Having eaten enough for the day, they went to the pond to quench their thrust and saw a fox drinking from their pond. The buffalo warned “Don’t drink from this pond” and the yak supported “yes don’t do it, we are vegetarians”. The fox resisted the warning and kept drinking from the pond. The yak and the buffalo got provoked when the fox paid no heed to their warning. The buffalo with his hairy fur and arched horns gave a shook to its body extending the furs to frighten the fox. The fox ran away from the pond. The yak with it plain dry skin was not able to scare away the fox and felt insulted. “I thought we were equally powerful” thought the yak. “It is his fur but what use does it have in a warm place” and drank from the pond.

While the friends were about to return, the fox made another attempt to drink from the pond but the buffalo scared him once again with the same threat. From a distance, the fox shouted “you, non-salt eating animals are selfish; I shall tell this to the other friends of the jungle”. The yak questioned the buffalo “do you know what is salt? To which the buffalo shook his head and replied “I don’t know. Is it the meat of some animals?” The yak laughed to his heart’s content to the ignorance of the buffalo who inquired further, “What’s the use of it?” chewing upon the bunch of grass that he had pulled out near the pond. The yak replied, full of wisdom “salt is the main ingredient that gives taste to all the human food”. “Will it do the same to our grass?” inquired the buffalo. “Of course it will, much better than the human food” replied the yak. “Well then, what are we waiting for, let’s go and find it” said the buffalo. “Ha ha ha….” Laughed the yak and said “it’s not as easy as u think”. “What do you mean? Asked the buffalo and continued “ The two of us can withstand any obstacle and we can defend ourselves against any predators with our sharp horns”.The yak replied “my dear friend, it is not as easy as you think, salt is found only in a place called Tibet in the Himalayas and it is terribly cold throughout the year”.

“Well, I see no problem there. I can always face the cold with my fur”. “You can but I cannot” replied the yak. The buffalo thought, “if I go alone, I would get lost since I don’t know the place but I must have the salt at any cost. I have never tasted salt in my life… Oh! How I wish I can taste it”.

Grazing over the dry grass near the big cypress tree, the buffalo thought. “Why don’t I lend my furs to the yak and ask him to bring salt for me from Tibet?” and having made the decision, we walked to his friend and said “Dear friend, why don’t you go to Tibet with my fur an bring salt for both of us?”  The yak pondered over the suggestion made by the buffalo and said “I will think over it” and then as the night closed in, they slept under the big cypress tree.

 During the night, cold wind blew and the temperature dropped. The yak moved closer to the buffalo and felt the warmth of the fur in the cold. Early in the morning, the yak made his decision and declared “My friend, I thought over what you said last evening and have decided to go along with your idea. As you said, lets exchange our furs and I shall bring salt enough for both of us”. Happy over the consent of his friend, the buffalo immediately gave his furs to the yak and put on the skin of the yak. The yak bid farewell to his friend and promised to be back after a month.

Days passed quickly and changed into weeks for the buffalo in expectation for his friend’s return as he grazed near the pond.  The weeks passed and became months and the buffalo waited in anticipation but there was no sign of the yak. The buffalo didn’t loose his hope and kept looking for the yak with his raised head. Thus, it is said that the buffalo have thin skin and have a behavior pattern of raising its head all the time.

*Courtesy: The original idea comes from Lham Tshering, my friend.