While short, the story still has a very strong lesson portrayed. It reminds me of the saying, "history is written by the victor" as to which representation we believe to be true. It very may well be that the lion is stronger than man in this story, but the man is too blinded by the statue that he makes the claim that man as stronger.
The Hare That Was Not Afraid to Die (Eastern Stories and Legends by Marie L. Shedlock, 1920)
Many times when people say they would give their own life for someone or something, it turns out that this is not completely true. Buddha is a well-known religious figure, known for the religion Buddhism, and we see that influence today with the Buddhist monks. In this story, Buddha is the hare, and when the other three animals, the jackal, otter, and monkey, are able to find food to offer to a divine being (albeit through stealing the food), and the hare is unable to find anything but grass, they decide that giving up their own body is worthwhile if it improves the life of one beggar. Instead of resorting to stealing food that they can use to care for a beggar, the hare believed it was more noble to give his own flesh instead. I feel like this story closely matches what I have heard about Buddhism in the past.
Buddhist Shrine in Thailand
Source: MaxPixel
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