Compassion is a dying quality

If we pause for a moment from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and ponder the present world events, whereby fellow countrymen in Chechnya (Russia) and Bosnia (Yugoslavia) are annihilating each other, and in other parts of the world where men are cheating, abusing and destroying each other, it is refreshing to read this story in which an animal shows great affection towards another member of the animal kingdom. It reminds me of Bernard Shaw's expression: "If a tiger kills a man, we call it ferocity, but when a man kills a tiger, he calls it sport".

One day the following story was shown on television. A deer which ventured too close to the edge of a river to drink was suddenly seized by a crocodile lurking in the muddy water. Naturally, the deer struggled vehemently to free itself from the vice-like grip of the crocodile, but alas all its efforts were in vain. The slender creature was dragged into the deeper part of the river.

However, just when everything seemed hopeless for the deer, a hippopotamus reacted to the tragedy and, snorting like a wounded bull, came to the deer's rescue. Seeing the ferocious hippo with eyes blazing in anger, the crocodile let go of the deer and swam away.

The deer swam back to the river edge, but apparently it had lost a lot of blood and had the greatest difficulty getting out of the river. The hippo tried its best to shove the unfortunate animal onto the riverbank. Once out of the river and just a few meters from the riverbank the deer collapsed from exhaustion. The hippo consoled the deer by licking its wounds and kissing the deer with its ugly snout. To the deep regret of the hippo, the deer died from exhaustion and loss of blood.

As nothing more could be done for the deer, the hippo shuffled away with drooping shoulders and tearful eyes, full of compassion. A couple of vultures swooped down to feast on the deer. The crocodile, which saw from a distance, hurriedly crawled out of the water and up on the riverbank to drag the carcass into the river.

This animal story should serve as a moral lesson to human beings who have a lot higher and subtler qualities to show greater affection to each other. The crimes and violence we have witnessed lately are just unbelievable and beyond my conscience.

A. DJUANA

Jakarta