Buddhist parable Grateful Animals, Ungrateful Man

Grateful Animals and an Ungrateful Man,
A tale of two paths, as different as can be.
One filled with gratitude, the other with greed,
And a lesson to be learned, for all to see.

In a forest, lived a man, who took and took,
With no thought for others, his own needs, he'd look.
He hunted the animals, for his own selfish gain,
And never once stopped, to show them any pain.

But the animals, they saw the man's true heart,
And knew that he was cruel, right from the start.
And yet, they still showed him kindness every day,
For they knew that this was the Buddhist way.

One day, a deer was caught, in a hunter's snare,
And the man, with a sneer, was about to be there.
But a fox, who'd seen it all, came to the rescue,
And freed the deer, with grace and love so true.

The man, he saw it all, but felt no remorse,
And took the deer for granted, with no real force.
He took what he wanted, without a single thought,
And never once thanked, the animals he'd fought.

And so, the man, continued on his path,
Taking and taking, with no aftermath.
But the animals, they lived in peace and love,
For they knew, that gratitude, was what came from above.

So let us learn, from the Grateful Animals and the Ungrateful Man,
That gratitude, is a choice, that we can take in hand.
For in the end, it's the love we give,
That makes us truly, truly live.