The whisperer

 

There was an old man who lived on a farm. He noticed that when he hums or whistles a tune softly the snails would slide along on their way to do what they were doing. He believed he influenced their peaceful behaviour.

So he sat by the river and tried the same procedure with the fish. He hummed a tune, then whistled, and the fish just swam to and fro oblivious of his presence. He was pleased with himself and thought he'd try again.

He walked towards the apiary, and sat by the bee hives. He watched the bees fly backwards and forwards from the hives towards the fields beyond and then come back again. He hummed and whistled softly and they got on with their busy work.

He then hummed and whistled to the sheep in the fields; and they too did what sheep usually do in fields and ignored him. 

He then sat under a tree and hummed to the birds above. They seemed to respond totally ignoring his presence.

He was pleased with himself. He reckoned he was an animal whisperer. He told everyone about it. But people either humoured him politely or did not seem to respond in any way.

One day the circus came to town. What an opportunity for him to prove his point. 

He wanted to be a lion whisperer.

An ambition he achieved that very night seconds before he died.  

MORAL OF THIS STORY: If you have a talent don't be cocky about it.