The Nap in the Hay

A brown dog wandered into a cool barn after a busy morning. He found a wooden manger filled with soft hay and curled up inside for an afternoon nap.

The farm's ox returned from the field, hungry and ready to rest. He walked toward his usual manger, where his evening hay had been placed before the dog arrived.

The ox lowered his nose toward the hay. The dog woke with a start and barked. He wanted to keep his cosy bed, so he stood across the manger's opening.

The ox stepped back and explained that he needed supper. The dog barked again. He did not eat hay himself, but he would not let the hungry ox reach it.

For a moment, both animals stood unhappy in the quiet barn. The ox had no dinner, and the dog could no longer sleep. Guarding the hay was helping neither of them.

The ox pointed toward a folded blanket beside the wall. It looked warm and dry, and it was meant for the dog. The dog glanced from it to the hay.

The dog sniffed a stalk and remembered that hay was not his supper. He had chosen a comfortable spot without thinking about whose food he was lying on today.

He climbed down carefully and moved to the blanket. The ox stepped forward and began eating. There was enough room in the barn for one animal's dinner and another animal's nap.

The dog apologised for blocking the manger. The ox nodded kindly and continued chewing. A simple change had made the whole barn calmer than all the earlier barking had done.

Soon the dog was asleep again, this time in his own place. The ox finished supper nearby. Keeping something from another did not make it useful to the one guarding it.