This was inspired by a video by ElectroBOOM, who may have accidently slipped out a moral tale while trying to talk about how to punish an annoying neighbor.
Once upon a time, there was a farmer, but you don't need to hear about him. On this farm there were two bull cows who lived within a fenced area. Here they had plenty of grass but essentially no freedom. Although the grass was very nice, they would often look beyond the fence and yearned to know what was out there.
A day finally came where one of the cows [we'll call him Rusty] decided that he had had enough of being fenced in and made his way over to it in order to free himself. This fence did not look all that imposing, made up only of a series of thin metal wires. If he wanted to, he felt that he could easily just push his bulky body against it and make his way through. But the moment he touched one of these wires with his snout, he received a terrible shock that struck him to the core.
Rusty did not like this shock. All at once, he looked upon the fence with grave distain. He came to the conclusion that to push through the fence would lead to pain and suffering. From then on he pledged to be happy with his lot and to never make the attempt for freedom ever again.
Now, the other cow [we'll call him Max] also had been feeling the pangs of freedom. He also looked beyond the fence and wondered what was out there. But when he asked Rusty what he thought of it, the bull explained, "It's not worth the trouble. If you even so much as touch the fence, you'll be hurt and possibly killed. I'll never forget how horrible it was. I'll never go near it again."
Hearing these fearful words affected Max greatly, but he could not shake the idea that there was more to it. He chose to defy that fear, saying, "I want to see this for myself."
"Don't do it," said Rusty. "You'll only be sorry. Play it safe and enjoy the grass we already have."
Once again, Max was tempted by fear to do what Rusty had said, but there was an inner need to know the truth. Despite those dreadful thoughts bouncing around inside his head, he approached the fence anyhow.
Max stood before the wire fence, thinking about how Rusty had been hurt. He believed him, and yet he was still curious. Carefully, he touched his snout to the wire, and as promised by Rusty, it delivered him a nasty shock. He backed away, already feeling he should just leave, and yet he remained where he was. From a distance, Rusty saw him as a fool for doing this.
Max contemplated his situation. He thought about the pain and also thought about how he presently felt fine. There was no pain. There was, however, a memory of pain and a lack of understanding of why it had happened. Indeed, it had occurred when he had touched his snout to the wire, but he did not understand why touching his snout to the wire had caused the shock. These were the machinations of the farmer and not something that cows generally understood as a rule.
Nevertheless, Max was still very curious, and he wanted his freedom. Once more, he very carefully pressed his snout to the wire and tried his very best to hold it there.
POP! POP! POP!
He pulled back when it was too much for him. The pain had been real, but it was not constant. It was happening in short bursts. Each one was awful, and it was making Max's heart beat all the faster as his mind tossed and turned with the idea of just going away and leaving this horrible fence alone.
But the more Max contemplated it, the more he realized that this fence might not really be as deadly as he once thought. It may only be there to incite fear, the same fear that Rusty was experiencing. The fence was indeed shocking him, but it was only doing it in increments. If one were to truly test this fence's mettle, would it have enough strength to fight back? Would it really try and kill Max?
Slowly, Max backed up and away from the fence. At first, Rusty thought he was finally going to be sensible about the whole thing, but this thought went away when he noticed Max digging his front hoof into the grass below. This was a sign that a bull was going to charge.
"Wait! You fool!" cried Rusty, but it was too late.
Max went into a run towards the fence. He crashed into it with all of his bulk. For a brief moment, Max felt the shock once more, but it was soon over as he easily tore through the wire and made his way to the other side. Arcs of electricity and sparks briefly sprayed out and soon went away, leaving a gaping hole in the farmer's fence. And here, Max happily trotted out to freedom and whatever came with it, proud of himself for not giving in to the temptation of fear and looking onward to the endless everything that might be beyond that.
Now to Rusty, who had seen the whole thing. Rusty approached the hole in the fence, no longer feeling threatened by it. He too now had the ability to obtain freedom, and indeed he took it, but he knew deep inside his heart that it had not been his own courage that had allowed him the privilege. In fact, he did not even understand what Max had done, nor did he care to. He merely followed in Max's hoof-steps as ignorant as he ever was and perhaps fell to some other fear along the way. But as for Max, he had learned the benefits of critical thought and to avoid the temptation of fear, and he was all the wiser for it.
This blog was written on March 23, 2026.
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