Once upon a time, there were three cows living together on a green farm near the forest. There was the white cow and the black cow, while the last one was reddish-brown. These cows loved each other. They would graze together on the farm, then sleep beside each other.
One day, a reddish-brown lion went for a stroll outside the forest and became near the farm of the three cows. He was hungry, looking for prey to eat. When he saw those cows, he felt happy about finding prey, but he couldn’t attack any of them because they were constantly together. So the lion sat behind a rock patiently, waiting for the cows to separate from each other so he could catch one of them.
However, the cows appeared extremely intelligent, as they didn’t separate from each other because they knew that if they stayed together, nothing would be able to attack them. The lion remained in his place for two or three days, but the cows remained as they were without separating, which made the lion lose his patience.
The lion thought of another plan to reach his prey. He went to the cows and greeted them, saying: “How are you, my friends? Are you well? I’ve been busy the past period, so I couldn’t visit you before. That’s why I decided to visit you today.” The reddish-brown cow said: “My lord, we are honored by your visit to us and our farm.”
The white and black cows were angry at what their brown cow friend was doing and felt sad about her talking to the lion. One said to the other: “Why does the reddish-brown cow believe what the lion says?” While the other said: “Don’t you know that lions look for other animals to be their prey?”
As days passed, the reddish-brown cow became more attached to the lion. The white and black cows offered her advice not to approach the lion, but she didn’t listen to them. One day, the lion said to the brown cow: “You know that our color is dark, but the white cow’s color is light and doesn’t resemble us. You also know that light color is the opposite of dark color. So it would be good for me to eat that white cow so there would be no differences between us, and we could live well together.”
The reddish-brown cow agreed to the lion’s wish and talked to the black cow to distract her from the white one so the lion could devour her. Indeed, the white cow remained alone until the lion ate her. After two or three days, the lion felt hungry again, so he called the reddish-brown cow, who said to him: “Yes, my lord.”
The lion said: “My body color is like your body color, but the black color doesn’t suit us. So it would be very good for me to eat the black cow.” The reddish-brown cow agreed to the lion’s wish, and he attacked the black cow until he ate her. The reddish-brown cow felt joy to the point that she didn’t know what to do. She said to herself: “I’m the only one who has the lion’s color.”
A few days passed until the lion felt hungry again. He said: “Where are you, oh reddish-brown cow?” The cow went this time feeling afraid, saying: “Yes, my lord.” The lion said: “It’s your turn. Prepare yourself. Today I will eat you.” The cow felt terror, saying: “Why, my lord? I’m your friend. I did everything you asked of me.” The lion said: “I have no friends. How can a lion be a cow’s friend?!”
The lion didn’t accept the brown cow’s pleas, who, after losing hope, said: “Oh lion lord, allow me to cry three times before you eat me.” The lion said: “Well, quickly… quickly.” The brown cow shouted: “The lion ate me on the day he ate the white cow. The lion ate me on the day he ate the black cow. The lion ate me on the day I became his friend.” And indeed, the lion ate the brown cow, then said: “I have finished my work on this farm. It’s better for me to go to another farm now.”
The story is translated from English under the title: The Three Cows