The Elephant Rope

Raja was a little boy. He lived in a small village and went to his field for ploughing and cropping every day. One day, he wore a new dress. So, he wanted to just roam around in the village and then go to his field at the end. While he was on his way to his field from his hut, he suddenly noticed a few elephants tied by the ropes and were having the food. He stopped and got confused. 

Raja thought, why would the elephants be tied by the elephant ropes on their front legs? There were no chains, no cages. It was apparent, and Raja knew himself, that the elephants had the potential to break away from their bonds and be free. But they did not.

Why??

Raja noticed a trainer nearby sitting and dozing. He went up to him and asked, “why these animals are just standing here, but they are making no attempt to get away?” The trainer said, “when they were very young and much smaller, we used the same size rope to tie them. At that age, those ropes were enough to control them. Now that they have grown up, they falsely believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can hold them tight, so they never try to break the ropes and be free.”

Raja was amazed. These animals were huge and could break free of their ropes anytime. But because they believed they couldn’t, they stood right where they were.

Like the elephants and innocent animals, some people also go through their life hanging through a belief that we cannot do something simply because we failed at accomplishing it once before.

Moral of The Elephant Rope Story

One should never give up after failing in one attempt. They could win in their next attempt.