One day, a cow became sick and stopped giving milk. She believed she would never recover. The cow’s owner decided to remove her from his house. She grieved and thought that her owner did not need her now and would never return to her. The cow decided to escape.
On the way, the cow fell from weakness and hunger. There was in the vicinity a good-hearted farmer. When he saw the cow, he decided to help her. He took her to his house. After several days, the cow began to recover. The good farmer thought to himself and began to think who might be the owner of this cow. He could not find the cow’s owner. Shortly after, the cow gave birth to a small calf and began to give milk again. The good farmer would feed her well, take care of her, and also feed her calf.
The farmer would sell the cow’s milk and became a wealthy man. Everyone wanted to buy milk from him. The cow began to become very famous. The cow’s owner heard about her and decided to go to buy milk from him as well. When the cow’s owner reached the good farmer’s house, he found that the cow was his cow indeed. He said to the good farmer, “This cow is mine.” But the farmer refused to return the cow to him.
At that point, the cow’s owner shouted in anger, “I will go to the city court and make him bring me the cow.” The next day, he reached the judge who heard the entire story. Immediately, he decided to gather the advisory council of the city to discuss the matter.
All the people wanted to know the ruling in the case. The judge’s ruling surprised everyone, for the ruling was that the cow should decide for herself her owner whom she wanted to stay with. The owner and the farmer each stood on his side, and the cow stood between them. The judge of the city turned to the cow and asked her, “Who do you want to live with?” The cow moved away from the owner and approached the good farmer and began to lick his hand with love. So the cow learned the difference between her old owner and the farmer.
Her old owner had been selfish and did not care for her, unlike the good farmer who had treated her with tenderness, cared for her, and fed her calf. At that point, the judge of the city decided to give the cow to her rightful owner, the good farmer.
The moral of the story: That you be good-hearted, gentle, and generous, by nature goodness will return to you, and God will compensate you for everything difficult that you pass through. As for if you are harsh, selfish, caring only about yourself, you will lose all beautiful things in your life.
The story translated from the story: The Rightful Owner