A Tale of the Stubborn Goats

Here is a charming tale about two very stubborn nanny goats. Stubbornness is a trait we have all exhibited at one time or another, and with it we’ve probably witnessed bad results.

Once upon a time, in two villages, lived two nanny goats. One was white as snow, one was black as night, but both were rather stubborn as goats can be. It is in their nature, you know.

One day, the two goats trotted off to eat some grass: the white goat walked to her field, and the black one to hers.

They chomped and chomped and chomped all day. Goats eat a lot.

At dusk, the sun began to set, and the goats had eaten their fill. It was time to return home to their villages. The goats started walking and met each other on a narrow plank that spanned a deep stream.

However, the two goats were unable to pass one another on the plank. Either the white goat or the black had to let the other pass.

“Hey! Naaah! You, black goat! Listen here, let me pass,” bleated the white goat.

“Huh. Naaah yourself! Are you kidding? I’m going to let you pass?” yelled the black goat. “You should let me pass.”

“I’ll stand here all night and I will not leave. All night!” replied the white goat.

“I will stand here until the morning dawns, and I won’t move from my spot, either. I’ll show you,” was the black goat's answer.

The two nanny goats argued and argued for a long time. Then, they began to shake their beards and their wattles, stomp their hooves. A fight broke out.

What a racket they made! The black goat took three steps back, and the white goat took three steps back. Each stood on their back legs and approached with a frightening look in their eyes. They began to buck one another with their sharp horns, clanking, clanking, clanking.

The two goats hit one another in the forehead, they entangled each other with their horns, and wouldn’t you know it, both goats fell into the stream below.

The white goat and the black goat managed to crawl out of the water quickly, because goats do not like water, or the rain, and both returned home to their own villages, wet and dirty.

The moral of the story? Once a while, it may be in the best interests of both parties to give in a little, to compromise, or at a minimum, to indulge in the fine art of negotiation.