Elephant of the circus

Once, there lived a man who used to capture animals and sell it to earn money. One day, he captured a small elephant and sold it to a circus owner. The circus owner took the little elephant and tied him with a rope on a bamboo stick. The elephant started getting training on various circus tricks. After the circus is over, the elephant was again tied with a rope on the bamboo stick. The elephant initially tried to get himself free, but he was very small and was not powerful enough to break the bond. This created a belief in his mind that the bond of rope and bamboo in which he is tied is too strong to be broken.

Few years later, the elephant became the main animal performer of the circus. The routine of the elephant however remained the same. After everyday when the circus-show got over, he was tied with the same rope on the same bamboo stick. Now, the elephant had stopped making any effort to break this bond. On one day, while the circus was going on, the cloth of tent caught fire. Everyone started leaving the tent in hurry. However, the elephant was tied and he was waiting for his turn to come. When he realized that the tent caught fire, he started feeling helpless and he started shouting for help. The people thought that the elephant is such a powerful animal, and he could easily protect himself by breaking this weak bond. Everyone started trying to rescue smaller animals (like hen, pigeon, tiger, monkey etc.) leaving behind the elephant. The fire became more widespread and all the people left the tent. However, the elephant, not knowing his true strength and potential kept on feeling helpless crying for help. Since there was a firm belief in his mind that the bond is too strong to be broken by him, he ultimately succumbed to the fire and lost his life, without even trying to break those shackles.