Big Red and Little Red were two large, strong oxen. They worked on a farm. All day long, they pulled the farmer’s plow through the fields or hauled his heavy cart to the market. When night fell, they were completely exhausted and would collapse into a deep, dreamless sleep in the farmer’s barn.
There was also a little pig living on the farm. The pig slept in the barn with the oxen, but while Big Red and Little Red toiled under the blazing sun, the pig lay in its pen, rolling in the mud and eating its food.
“Look at that pig!” grumbled Little Red. “It’s not fair. It should be working in the fields just like us.”
“At least we get to feel the wind and the sun and hear the birds singing in the trees,” said Big Red.
Meanwhile, the farmer was busy planning a grand wedding for his daughter. He told his helpers that they should start fattening up the little pig for the wedding feast.
One day, Little Red noticed that the pig was getting delicious, rich food without having to do any work.
“Brother, just look at how lucky that pig is,” he complained. “It does nothing all day, yet it gets the best food. That’s not fair! We work hard all day and only get dry hay and grass.”
Big Red was the wiser of the two oxen. “Dear brother,” he said, “you shouldn’t be jealous of that poor creature. The farmer is fattening it up so that it can be served at his daughter’s wedding.”
Little Red suddenly felt very foolish for envying the pig’s life, realizing its terrible fate.
“It is better to live a long life on dry grass and hay,” Big Red said wisely, “than to feast on rich food and end up on the farmer’s dinner table!”
From that day on, Little Red never complained about his work again.
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