(Ox:Wikimedia Commons)
THE OX WHO WON THE FORFEIT by Ellen C. Babbit
The story of the ox that pulled the 100 carts was interesting.
It seems that it was written as a children’s story because it teaches the fundamental
act of treating someone nicely. It was
very easy to read with not very difficult wording or sentence structure. In the
story an owner owns an ox that he enjoys telling all of the other people in
town about. The owner loves his ox but mostly for his strength and never seems stop
talking about it. He is always very kind to his ox and feeds him well so he can
remain strong. One day while in town he began to gloat about the strength of
his ox and bet that his ox could pull 100 carts. The gentlemen accepted the bet
because they thought the ox could never pull 100 carts. The owner brought his
ox out the next day to prove to the others how truly strong his ox was, and to
collect his money. They tied the ox to the first cart with 99 following and the
owner began to whip and yell at the ox. To the owners surprise the ox did not
move even though he knew the ox could and the owner lost the bet. Once they
were home the owner was very upset and asked the ox why he did not pull the carts.
The ox responded by saying he did not like the way his owner was speaking to
him and that he did not like being whipped. The owner apologized and said it
would never happen again and the ox trusted him and forgave him. The next day
the ox went to town and pulled the 100 carts to win the bet for his owner. I
think this story is told in this way to teach kids its not okay to bully someone
to get what you want. And if you need something to ask for it and not force it.
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