Jataka Patient Buffalo

tale:jataka_patient_buffalo

A great buffalo, the Bodhisattva, is plagued by an impudent monkey that clambers on him, jabs him, and fouls his food, yet he bears it all without anger. When a spirit asks why he tolerates such insolence, he answers that patience practiced toward the weak and rude is patience indeed, and that the monkey will earn its own reckoning elsewhere. Moral: forbearance toward the provoking is the truest strength. — Jataka tale