Once there was a farmer and his big teenage son.
This farmer went out into the field, his son went with him, his servants, the day labourers, they were gathering hay so hard that the sweat dripped off them.
Everyone was working, except the master's dog. He was lying in the bushes, in the shade.
The farmer's son sees, envies the dog's work, sighs bitterly:
- Hey, Father, I'd love to be a dog!
- Do you love me, my son? - says the man. - Well, if you do, lie down with the dog. Don't work, I don't mind.
For the lad did not say twice to himself, he lay down under the bush, slept soundly while the other men worked, and had no thought of touching the handle of the fork.
Well, it was time for lunch.
The farmer and his servants and his day labourers sat down in front of the bowl and spooned the reaper's soup, but they didn't let the lad near the bowl, they just threw him a bone and a crust of bread, just like a dog.
For the lad did not mind much, for he was not yet hungry.
After lunch, he lay down again under the bush and lay there until lunch.
The servants and the day-labourers come to the snack, but the lad has risen from under the bush. He went to get something for himself.
- 'Wait your turn, my boy,' said the farmer, 'you'll get yours when the dog gets his. And again they threw him a crust of bread.
But by evening his eyes had turned green and red, and he said to his father:
- Father, I've had enough of being a dog, I'm not going to be a dog any more, because it's true that a dog's job is to be a dog.
- "You see, my son, you see," said the farmer, "man shall be man, dog shall be dog.
But then the lad took hold of the handle of the fork, no longer wishing for the dog's fate.
(Ágnes Kovács: Folk tales for kindergarten children)
