K. R. Sethuraman
38 Complaining a) The Oxen and the Axles: A pair of oxen were pulling a loaded wagon along.
As they strained to pull the load, the axles of the wagon creaked loudly. This
irritated the oxen who said testily to the axles, "Keep quiet! Why do you make so
much of noise when we do all the work quietly?"
When Meena was admitted for treatment of high fever, her husband Kumar was
upset. He complained to the doctor, "I have to do all the household chores and look after
the children now. Can't she stay at home and take the treatment?� The doctor replied, "When she does all the household chores, you don't even notice it or try to help her. But
when you have to manage it for just a few days, you complain so much.� He coaxed a reluctant Meena to stay in the hospital until she was really well.
b) The mule and his Masters: A mule had a hard time with his master, a gardener, who gave him much work and little food. The mule begged Jupiter to
take him away from the gardener to another master. Jupiter arranged to sell the mule to a potter. The work with the potter was even tougher and so the mule
begged Jupiter for another change. Jupiter obliged and sent the mule to a tanner. When the mule saw what the tanner did for living, he cried in despair, "Why did I search for an ideal master to suit my taste? My former masters would have at least given me a decent burial but now I shall end up in the tanning vat."
Babu, a 40-year old diabetic, was fed up with daily insulin injections. "I can't take
them for the rest of my life," he said to himself and shifted to another system of 112
