The Hunter and the Unicorn

Tibetan Folk Tales, by A.L. Shelton, [1925], at sacred-texts.com

p. 91

TWENTY-ONE

An old Lama without religion and a heart without happiness hurt very much.
                                             Tibetan Proverb.

ONCE, long ago when men's hearts were evil and they forgot to be grateful for kindness, a hunter was walking along the road and fell over a cliff, almost killing himself. As he was wondering how he could get to the road again, a unicorn came along, stopped and looked over at him. The man began to beg and plead, saying, "You are such a nice unicorn. I have never harmed any animal, except when I was hunting and hungry, and I never would hurt you." He begged and coaxed until the unicorn came down and helped him up on the road again. When he was safely out he said, "Now I know the road out of here, so I have no more use for you." He grabbed his gun and shot the unicorn dead. Sure enough, it was a bad road and he wandered around and around, but could find no end, no way out, and wished he had asked the unicorn the right road before he had killed him. Finally growing tired and weak and hungry, and no one coming to help him, he fell down the cliff again and died.

Moral: Don't be sure you know more than you do.