The animals gathered around the lion, and he explained to all what he had to do. He said to the elephant that he was huge and strong and would fight in the forefront. Then he said to the fox: Since you are the most cunning of animals, you will help me in planning the battle strategy. The lion, king of the forest, decided one day to declare war on the neighboring countries.
As everyone does in these circumstances, the lion issued a decree calling for general mobilization. He said: I want the sons of my principality to all come without any exception to participate in it. The command is the order of the lion king, and it is the obligation of the principality to obey the order. Everyone came, young and old. The lion had informed them that each of them had a special role to play in that war. The animals responded to the call.
When the animals gathered with the lion and his entourage, the lion explained to each of them what role they must play in that war. He said to the elephant: You will fight in the forefront and defend the others. He said to the fox: You will help me in planning the war strategy. He said to the monkey: Since you are cunning and clever, you will help me in planning the attack. He said to the bear: Since you are strong and clever, you will break the walls when we capture the castles. He asked the rabbits and donkey to advance to show themselves.
The ministers said to the king: These animals don’t benefit in war. The wild rabbits are weak and cowardly, and the donkey is stupid. Let’s return to the forest, oh king. The king said with his wisdom: Not for the donkey, I think his braying is stronger than my roar. He will be a bugler like me to mobilize all soldiers. As for the wild rabbit, he is an excellent runner and will carry messages from one direction to another. And because the lion was wise, he said: There is no animal without benefit. It’s enough to use each of them according to his type and appropriate services.
Moral of the story: Every creature on earth has a task that God created him for, no matter how small his size.
From the tales of Kalila and Dimna.