The Fable of the Four Friends

There were once four friends, an elephant, a monkey, a peacock and a rabbit who wished to have a constant supply of the fruit they all loved to eat. After some deliberation, they decided that through cooperation they could achieve this. So, the peacock found the seed and planted it in the ground. The rabbit then watered it and the monkey fertilised it. The elephant, being the largest of the four guarded it day and night. The seed germinated and grew and grew until it became a mature tree and produced the longed for fruit. When it was ripe, none of the animals could reach up to harvest it, so they made a tower by climbing on each other’s backs; first the elephant, then the monkey, the rabbit and finally the peacock. Through their friendship and cooperation the four were able to share in their favourite fruit. In Bhutan’s national language, Dzongkha, the story is called Thuenpa puen shi which means cooperation, relation, four.