Old Sultan

Old Sultan

A shepherd had an old dog named Sultan. Once Sultan had been the fastest dog in the district. He could hear a fox beyond the fence, gather wandering sheep with a glance, and patrol the yard each night as carefully as if he guarded a royal palace.

But years passed. Sultan’s muzzle turned gray, he ran more slowly, and most of his teeth were gone.

One evening he heard his owner say:

“Sultan is old. Perhaps we should send him somewhere else, where he can still be useful.”

“But he served us all his life,” replied the shepherd’s wife. “Can’t we simply let him spend his old age here?”

The shepherd shook his head. He was not cruel, but he had grown too used to measuring everyone by how much work they could do.

Sultan quietly walked away from the door. He felt so sad that even his favorite bone did not cheer him.

A wolf lived beyond the village. Sultan had often met him near the forest. When the wolf heard about his friend’s trouble, he said:

“Don’t worry. I know how to remind your owner what you are worth.”

The next day the shepherd and his wife worked in the field while their little son played nearby. The wolf and Sultan had arranged a small performance.

The wolf sprang from the bushes, carefully picked up the child’s basket of toys, and ran toward the forest.

“Oh!” cried the mother. “The wolf is taking his things!”

Sultan jumped up. His old legs were not as quick as before, but his heart beat like that of a young guard dog.

He raced after the wolf.

The wolf slowed down. Sultan caught up and barked loudly. As planned, the wolf dropped the basket and ran away.

Sultan proudly carried the toys back.

The shepherd knelt beside him.

“Old friend, I forgot that usefulness is not measured only by fast legs. You guarded our home for so many years. Of course you will stay with us.”

From then on Sultan had a soft bed beside the stove and something tasty in his bowl.

Several days later, the wolf came to the yard.

“Well, friend, I helped you. Now do me a favor. Tonight I’ll take one sheep, and you pretend not to see.”

Sultan shook his head.

“No. I am grateful for your help, but I will not let you steal from my owner. Friendship does not mean agreeing to bad actions.”

The wolf was offended.

“Then meet me beyond the forest tomorrow and we’ll settle who is right.”

He asked a wild boar to come with him.

Sultan did not want to go alone either. He invited the old farm cat. The cat was no longer young and walked with a slight limp, but agreed.

The next morning Sultan and the cat went toward the forest.

The cat held his tail high so it would not drag through wet grass. Because of his lame paw, he walked in a funny rhythm: step, hop, step, hop.

The wolf and boar saw them from a distance.

“Look!” whispered the boar. “He is carrying a sword!”

“What sword?” asked the wolf.

“That long thing pointing upward!”

They thought the cat’s tail was a terrible weapon.

Then the cat made another hop.

“He’s gathering stones to throw at us!” cried the wolf, scrambling up a tree.

The boar hid in the bushes, but one ear stuck out.

The cat saw something moving among the leaves and thought it was a mouse. He jumped into the bushes.

The boar squealed in surprise and ran away.

“Save yourself!” he shouted to the wolf. “That little one is more dangerous than he looks!”

Sultan looked up and saw the wolf in the tree.

“So there you are. Perhaps we can stop quarreling now?”

The wolf looked embarrassed.

“I may have gone too far,” he admitted. “You were right. You cannot demand a bad favor simply because you once did a good one.”

They made peace.

From then on, the wolf left the shepherd’s sheep alone, Sultan lived peacefully beside the warm fire, and the old cat told everyone how he had once frightened an entire wild boar without even realizing it.

The shepherd remembered something too: those who have stood beside us for many years deserve care even when they can no longer work as they once did.

May this story leave a little light in your heart ✨