A man in the forest saw a fox that had lost its legs and wondered how it survived. Soon a tiger arrived with prey, ate its fill, and left the remains for the fox. The same thing happened the next day.
The man decided he had witnessed a lesson in providence. He sat in a corner and waited for God to feed him. Days passed. Nothing came, and he approached starvation.
Then he understood that he had chosen the wrong example. He was meant to imitate the tiger that provided, not the fox that waited.
Source: Anthony de Mello, “The Disabled Fox,” The Song of the Bird, printed p. 97 (PDF p. 115); de Mello attributes the fable to Sa’di. Retold.
What it argues
The same evidence can justify passivity or responsibility depending on which role we assign ourselves. Inspiration without self-suspicion becomes an alibi.
Use it for: responsibility, charity, providence, selective interpretation, and learned helplessness.