There was a small village. A man from that village had gone out of town and returned with a dog. The dog was very good-looking. Many villagers had pet dogs, but this one stood out from the rest.
This dog had a peculiar habit—whenever it saw someone, it would chase and try to bite them. The dog thoroughly enjoyed doing this. Soon, word spread throughout the village that this dog was a biter. People even started avoiding the places where the dog usually sat.
But the dog was clever. If he saw someone coming from afar, he would lie down pretending to be asleep. Villagers were cautious, but a stranger, unaware of the dog’s behavior, would walk past it, only to have the dog suddenly lunge and bite their leg. The whole village became fed up with the dog.
The dog’s owner was tired of the complaints. Every day, someone or the other would show up to report a new incident. Many even told the owner, “Brother, you better keep your dog tied up, or we’ll have to take action ourselves.”
The owner began to feel that the villagers were right. A dog that bites people all day long cannot be tolerated. But he didn’t know what to do with the dog.
He tried giving the dog better food, petting him more, taking him for walks regularly. But as soon as he was let off the leash, he reverted to his biting ways. Whenever he saw someone, he would start running to attack them.
Villagers began warning the owner, “Get rid of this dog. Take him into the forest and leave him there. Otherwise, we will have no choice but to kill him.”
The owner was confused. What could he do? He was very fond of the dog. He couldn’t bear the thought of abandoning him in the forest.
Finally, the owner came up with a clever idea. He had a collar made with small bells attached to it. He fastened the collar around the dog’s neck. Now, wherever the dog went, the bells would jingle. When the dog stood up, the bells would ring. When he sat down, they rang. The sound of the bell would alert everyone. They would know the dog was nearby and would quickly run away.
The dog started to enjoy this. Seeing people run from him made him happy. Over time, the dog could no longer sneak up on people. The bell gave him away every time he moved. Anyone nearby would hear the bell and escape in time. The dog was still pleased. He even started shaking his head just to make the bells ring.
One day, a group of other dogs noticed this. One of them approached the bell-wearing dog and said, “You seem to be enjoying your bell, but in truth, you should feel ashamed.”
The bell-wearing dog asked, “Why?”
The other dog said, “Your owner didn’t give you that bell as a reward. It’s a punishment. You were attacking everyone in the village, so your owner tied that bell around your neck. Look around; do any of us have a bell on our neck?”
The bell-wearing dog realized the truth. Until now, he had never thought of it that way. He began to regret his actions.
From that day onward, he stopped attacking people.
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