In the beginning, Jupiter created the bull without horns. He wandered the meadows freely, head held high, one of the biggest and strongest of the animals.
But then the bull wanted to be even more powerful, so he prayer to Jupiter, "Please give me horns!"
Jupiter agreed and put horns on the bull's head.
But the bull soon discovered that he could be tied by the horns, then yoked to the plow, and made to labor as a slave.
He groaned under the weight and lamented his lost liberty, wishing he had been satisfied with what Jupiter originally gave him.
Inspired by: Mille Fabulae et Una, a collection of Latin fables that I've edited, free to read online. I am not translating the Latin here; instead, I am just telling a 100-word version of the fable.
Notes: This is fable 282 in the book, which is not in Perry's catalog; it is one of Abstemius's fables, also found in Irenaeus.
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