Once a Wolf,  starving with hunger and cold in the winter snow, chanced to meet a Dog. The Dog was plump and well-fed, his coat shining with health and strength. After they had said hello, the Wolf asked the Dog, ‘ How are you so sleek and plump? What do you eat that has put so much flesh upon your bones? I am stronger than you, and by far the better hunter, but here I am, cold and starving in the winter.’

‘You can be as well-fed as I,’ replied the Dog, ‘if you are willing to take a master and serve him as I do.’

‘What would I have to do?’ asked the Wolf, curious.

‘You’d have to guard his house and home from thieves and unwanted visitors,’ replied the Dog.

‘Oh, I’m quite willing to do that,’ declared the Wolf. ‘Right now, all I have is snow and rain, and must bear every assault of the weather. It will be so much more pleasant living under a roof, with a warm fire and a soft bed and food to fill my belly at the end of a long day.’

‘Well, come with me then, I’ll take you to my Master,’ said the Dog.

The two animals set off together, running side by side as friends do. As they went along, the Wolf noticed the mark of a chain around the Dog’s neck. ‘What’s that around your neck,’ asked the Wolf.

‘Oh, it’s nothing,’ shrugged the Dog.

‘Even so, tell me,’ said the Wolf.

‘Well, they think I’m dangerous, so they tie me up during the day. They let me loose only at night, so I may wander where I wish unchained and protect their house from robbers. In exchange, they bring me food without my asking, and my Master throws me bones from his own table, and I get all the leftovers from everybody’s meals. And so my tummy is always full.’

‘Hmm,’ said the Wolf thoughtfully. ‘So tell me, what if you want to go somewhere on your own during the day, can you do so?’

‘No, of course not,’ replied the Dog.

‘In that case, Dog, enjoy your life of ease. I want none of it. It is not worth the price of my freedom.’ And the Wolf lollopped off, back into the woods.

A life of Freedom is sweeter than a life of even the greatest ease.