₦airaland Forum

You possibly have heard this fable, but let me share it all the same so we can glean one or two lessons from it.

The cat used to be an animal that resided in the jungle like every other wild beast. One day, it was attacked by a fox. However, it was rescued by the elephant. The cat, which had always been harassed and hounded by the fox came to the conclusion that the elephant must be the most powerful animal in the jungle. And it made its decision: thenceforth, it began to move with the elephant, following it wherever it went to.

Shortly after the birth of this commensalism, the elephant was unfortunate to get into a fight with a lion. The fearless creature, after a long tussle, was finally able to send the elephant on the famed journey of no return. Amazed that its excellent hero which it had always perceived as invincible had now met a superior, the cat renounced its loyalty to its dead savior and swore a new pact with this new almighty beast: the lion.

Time reeled by, and it came to pass that during a hunting expedition, a hunter's bullet found its way into the chest of the lion, killing it immediately. Our dear cat realizes that it had now found a greater-than-the-lion, and of course, another contract of loyalty was established. And so the cat followed the man to his village where he lived with him till date because it is yet to find a creature greater than man on the earth.

Lesson from the cat: we shouldn't be like the cat. We shouldn't profess loyalty with just our lips. When our heroes and role models fall, that isn't the time to betray by wagging our tongues and gloating. It's time to prove our loyalty by giving them the support they need.

Lesson from the elephant and lion: The average man is selfish; he is only loyal to what's benefitting him. Call me a cynic if you like, but on the average, men are more concerned about what's in it for them than allegiance. I'm not telling you to start preaching to people to stop being "treacherous"; I'm saying realize this is how the world works and use it to your advantage.

To continue to bask in your customers' loyalty as a business owner or in your fans' adulation as a celebrity, you have to do everything possible not to be sidelined like the elephant or the lion.

J. Ebute (Penwielder)

Truly, cats have no loyalty.

Nice tale.