A Messenger And A Horse Story

Once upon a time a king had a messenger. He proved his loyalty and responsibility many times. The king trusted him very much. Once, the king wanted to convey an important message to the commander of his army in the battle-field. The message could change the situation of battle if conveyed in time. It was an important task so the king called the messenger and gave him the responsibility to complete the task as soon as possible.

                 He had limited time to reach the distant destination. Delay could prove fatal. So he decided to start his journey at once. While starting his journey he found that one nail from the shoe of the horse was missing. He wanted to save time, so he ignored it and set off on his journey. On the way another nail came off but he did not care it and continued his journey. Gradually, all the nails from the shoe of the horse slipped off and the shoe fell down. The horse started limping. He whipped his horse and tried to make him run fast but in vain. The foot of the horse was bleeding. It could run no longer as was tired. Soon he fell and could not get up again.

         The messenger was helpless. It was getting late. The destination was not far, so he began to run to reach it. But it was too late. When he reached the battle-field, he got shocking news. The king’s army had been defeated. In saving a few minutes, he lost many hours. He cursed himself for his carelessness and negligence, but it is useless to cry over spilt milk. His carelessness had caused an irreparable loss.

Possible Moral:

            A stitch in time saves nine.