The Goatherd and the Goat
Giovanni, a goatherd, takes in a stray goat and nurses it back to health. But when the villagers complain, he releases the goat into the wild, where it happily joins a herd of its own kind.
There was once a goatherd named Giovanni who lived in a quaint village among the gentle hills of the countryside. Giovanni was a caring and considerate man who did his best to look after the goats entrusted to him.
While taking care of his flock, Giovanni once spotted a goat that had accidentally wandered into town. Giovanni could tell the goat had been lost for long time by its emaciated, famished appearance. Giovanni took the goat into his care without hesitation and began to feed it and nursing it back to health.
The stray goat improved physically and mentally as the days went on. It tagged along everywhere Giovanni went, bleating happily. Giovanni was happy to see the goat prosper, and he eventually grew to think of it as a member of his own family.
Giovanni's choice to take in the wandering goat was met with mixed reactions from the villagers. Giovanni was pressured to get rid of the goat by angry townspeople who said it was eating their livestock.
Giovanni felt conflicted. He felt bad for leaving the goat, but he didn't want to make waves in the community by returning it. He gave it some thought and ultimately decided to take the goat to a nearby forest and let it loose.
Giovanni, leading the goat through the forest, came upon a clearing where a herd of goats was feeding. Even though these goats were wild, they accepted the wayward goat into the herd as though it had always been there. Giovanni watched as the stray goat was gladly accepted into the herd and went off to join the others.
Giovanni saw that the wandering goat was happier and more at home in the wild. Choosing to let things go was the correct choice, he realized.
The lesson to be learned from this anecdote is that letting go of possessions that aren't actually ours can be tough, but is ultimately worthwhile.