On a small farm there lived two ox brothers, Big Red and Little Red, and a plump pig named Munika. The oxen worked from sunrise to sunset — ploughing the fields, pulling the heavy cart, turning the well-wheel. For all this labour they were given plain grass and straw. Munika the pig did no work at all, yet every day the farmer's family brought him warm rice porridge, sweet mash, and leftover treats from their own kitchen.
Now the farmer's daughter was soon to be married, and as the wedding drew near, Munika's meals grew richer and richer. One evening Little Red stood chewing his dry straw and watching the pig slurp his delicious porridge. He turned to his elder brother with tears of envy. "Brother, this is not fair! You and I do all the work of this farm. We plough, we pull, we carry — and we get nothing but grass. That lazy pig does nothing, sleeps all day in the mud, and eats like a prince. Why is our master so unkind to us and so loving to him?"
Big Red looked at his younger brother gently. "Little brother, do not envy Munika. That rich food is nothing to wish for — Munika is not being loved, he is being fattened. In a few days the wedding guests will arrive, and then you will see why the pig was fed so well. Our plain grass may seem poor, but it is the food of a long and peaceful life. Eat it gladly."
Little Red did not fully understand — until the wedding day came. The house filled with guests, drums sounded, and the farmer's family came to the pigsty and took Munika away to be cooked for the great feast. Little Red stood very still by his manger. Then he lowered his head and quietly munched his grass, and never again did it taste dry to him. "You were right, brother," he said. "Our simple food and honest work are a hundred times better than a lazy feast that ends in sorrow."
When the Buddha finished this story, he said, "In that life, Little Red was Ananda, and Big Red, the elder ox, was I myself."