A follower of Rabbi Meir of Premishlan once
complained to him about a man who had started a competing
business. “He is depriving me of my livelihood!”
cried the chassid. “You must tell him to close his
shop!”
Said Rabbi Meir: “Have you ever noticed how a horse
behaves when he is led to a water hole? He begins to paw angrily
at the water with his hooves; only when the water is well-muddied
does he begin to drink. Why does the horse act this way?”
“I don’t know,” said the chassid. “Why?”
“Because the horse sees his reflection in the water
and thinks that another horse has come to drink his water.
So he kicks and paws until he has ‘chased away’
the other horse. What the horse doesn’t understand,”
concluded Rabbi Meir, “is that G-d has created enough
water for all the horses.”
