One winter’s day, a red pheasant went to the river to get a drink. He stepped out onto the ice and drank from a hole he found. When he went to leave, he saw that the fluffy feathers of his tail were stuck to the ice.
“Oh ice, you must be the strongest thing in the world! You have grabbed my tail so quickly and trapped me here!” the red pheasant said.
“No, pheasant,” said the ice, “the rain is stronger than me. When hot rains come, I start melting.”
“That cannot be true,” said the rain, “the earth is stronger than me. No matter how much it rains, the earth absorbs everything.”
“But wood is stronger than me,” the earth’s voice boomed, “a tree’s roots easily break through soil.”
Wood answered, “No, no. Fire is the strongest. Trees stand no chance when a fire blazes through a forest.”
The fire heard and replied, “Wind is yet stronger. I’m very afraid of him. When the wind picks up, I die down.”
“Yes, I’m very powerful,” the wind answered, “I can uproot trees, destroy houses, and extinguish fires. But fields of grass remain intact. Even the smallest blade of grass will only sway in the wind. So the humble grass must be stronger than me.”
“I am not so strong,” the grass said, “I am helpless when sheep come to graze or trample on my fields. Sheep have got to be the strongest.”
The sheep bleated, “How am I strong? When a wolf sees me, he immediately attacks! There is no contest: the wolf is the strongest of all in the world.”
“You are all wrong.” the wolf declared. “A human is the strongest of all!”
“A human can catch a pheasant, crack through ice, work while it’s raining, dig through the earth to farm, cut down trees, create and kill fire, harness the wind, cut the grass, eat the sheep, and hunt the wolf!”
“With a human’s intelligence, he can be the strongest in any competition!”
