The Ox Who Won the Forfeit

Long ago there was a man with an Ox so mighty that he could not stop bragging about it to everybody he met.

One day, in a nearby village, he made the men an offer. “If my Ox can’t drag a hundred wagons tied in a row,” he said, “I’ll pay you a thousand silver pieces.”

The villagers laughed. “Done! Bring him along, and we’ll set out the hundred wagons and see.”

The man led his Ox in, and a crowd came to watch. The hundred carts stood waiting, and the Ox was harnessed to the front one. Then his owner whipped him and shouted, “Get up, you wretch! Get moving, you rascal!”

But nobody had ever spoken to the Ox like that, and he stood quite still. Neither the blows nor the ugly names could make him move.

So the man had to hand over the silver, and he trudged home miserable. Lying on his bed, he wept. “What came over my Ox? Many times he has pulled heavier loads with ease. Why did he shame me in front of all those people?”

After a while he got up and did his chores. That evening, as he brought the Ox its food, the animal spoke to him. “What made you beat me today? You have never whipped me before. And why did you call me ‘wretch’ and ‘rascal’? You have never called me names before.”

“I was wrong,” said the man. “I’m sorry for beating you and for the names I used. It won’t happen again. Please forgive me.”

“Very well,” said the Ox. “Until today you were always good to me. Tomorrow I’ll go to the village and haul those hundred carts, and you’ll get back everything you lost.”

The next morning the man gave the Ox a good breakfast and hung a garland of flowers around his neck. When they came into the village, the men laughed at him all over again. “Have you come to lose more money?” they asked.

“This time,” said the owner, “I’ll pay two thousand silver pieces if he can’t move the hundred carts.”

Again the carts were set out in a row with the Ox in front, and people gathered round. This time the owner said, “Good Ox, show them how strong you are! You fine, fine fellow!” And he patted the Ox’s neck and stroked his sides.

Straight away the Ox pulled with all his might. The whole line rolled forward until the hindmost cart had reached the spot where the front one began.

The crowd cheered, and they paid the man back the forfeit he had lost. “Your Ox is the strongest Ox we have ever seen!” they said. Then man and Ox walked home together, both of them very happy.

About this fable

“The Ox Who Won the Forfeit” is the fifth tale in Ellen C. Babbitt’s Jataka Tales (1912). A forfeit is money a person promises to pay if he loses a bet, and the whole story turns on the two bets the owner makes in the village.

Babbitt keeps the same test twice, a hundred carts in a line, so that the changed treatment includes an apology, an end to whipping, food, praise and reassuring touch.

Read the original: Jataka Tales (Project Gutenberg)

Reading guidance: Ages 6–8 with adult discussion; the owner whips and insults the ox before apologizing. The hundred-cart feat is a fable exaggeration, not a safe challenge for animals.

A closer reading

The ox can pull the carts on both days. His refusal answers mistreatment, not lack of strength. When he speaks afterward, he names both the blows and the insults, requiring the owner to face actions that the owner’s complaint about being ‘shamed’ had ignored.

The second attempt works after an apology and changed conduct. Kindness should not be reduced to a technique for getting more labor: the ox deserves humane treatment whether or not a wager is won. The repeated cart test makes the change in the relationship visible.

Try this with the story

Compare the owner’s first explanation for losing with the ox’s explanation. Then list the observable changes on the second morning. Which show that the apology is followed by action?

Think about it

• Is the ox unable or unwilling to pull the first time?
• What does the owner’s first complaint leave out?
• Which changes show more than just kinder words?

More stories like this

• The King’s White Elephant — an animal who repays kindness with hard work
• How the Turtle Saved His Own Life — another very short Jataka from the same book
• The Story of the Sandy Road — oxen, carts and a hard journey