Before the colonization of India , the Moguls ruled the plains. One day three young Mogul princes were behaving as young men have since the beginning of time. They ate, they drank, they bragged about the women they had seduced (in their imagination). After a while they began to brag about their athletic ability and finally about their magnificent elephants.
In time the young men decided to race their beasts to the far side of the river about two thousand paces away across the valley. They each agreed to put a thousand rupees, a great sum of money, into a winner-take-all pot. To solemnize the race the terms were written on parchment and signed by each racer. The first elephant to cross the river was the winner.
They mounted their elephants and the older boys laughed st Rasheed for his elephant Dapeep was only two thirds the size of the other great elephants. Rasheed answered “I have raised him from a baby. He is loyal.”
At the shout of one of the servants the racers lumbered forward. Little Dapeep had to take three steps for just two of the big full grown elephants and soon fell behind. At the halfway point he was fifty paces behind and losing ground with each step.
The larger of the beasts came to the stream that marked the finish line. The water was in flood and raged swiftly between its banks. The oldest boy flogged his steed snd the elephant took one hesitant step into the fast moving water and balked. It would go no more. The second elephant likewise hesitated.
Rasheed rode up to the shore and dismounted. He calmly removed his boots and waded into the river. He struck out and swam the flooded stream with a strong stroke. He emerged dripping and flung himself exhausted upon the bank. The older boys laughed and hooted reminding Rasheed the race was for the first elephant to cross.
Rasheed stood and whistled at his faithful pet. He began to sing a familiar lullaby. His little elephant waddled into the water with a loud trumpet from his raised trunk and swam towards his master. The elephant struggled out on the other side and sunk to its knees. Rasheed went and cut the most tender leaves from a nearby tree and fed them to his little elephant by hand.
The other two young men said Rasheed cheated and refused to pay their wager. Finally the three came before the Rajah himself to arbitrate the dispute. Rasheed showed the parchment that only specified that the first elephant to cross the river was the winner, not the rider. The Rajah declared him the winner.
And the others learned why you should always read a document before you sign it.
