Why the Cow Has Loose Skin on Its Neck

Why the Cow Has Loose Skin on Its Neck

Long ago, when animals in stories could still speak, there lived a poor farmer whose greatest treasures were two hardworking animals: a cow and a carabao, the great water buffalo of the Philippines. Every morning the farmer harnessed them to a plow and led them into the fields. The soil was heavy, the sun was hot, and somehow there was always more work than there had been the day before. “One more furrow,” the farmer would say. They pulled one more. “And another.” They pulled again. “Now this one really is the last.” Yet after the “last” furrow, another always seemed to appear. Carabao was strong, quiet, and patient. Cow worked hard too, but one day she had had enough. “We need to rest,” she told the farmer. “Just for a little while. And I would love a bath. Look how dusty we are.” The farmer was in a hurry to finish the field before evening. “Later. Work first.” The next day was the same. And the next. That evening Cow whispered to Carabao, “This will not do. If we never look after our own need to rest, no one will give us rest. Let us go somewhere with good grass and a river.” Carabao moved his great ears. “I have been thinking the same thing. I was afraid you would not agree.” “Then it is settled.” When the yard became quiet, the two friends slipped through the gate and followed a path away from busy roads. At first they were delighted. “Look at all that grass!” Cow cried. “And shade beneath those trees,” said Carabao. But after a long journey, their legs grew heavy and dust coated them even more thickly. Then they heard water. Hush... splash... hush... Beyond the reeds flowed a wide, clear river. Cow almost jumped. “A bath!” Carabao looked back. “Perhaps we should go a little farther first. The farmer has probably noticed we are gone.” “We have traveled a long way,” Cow replied. “And that water is so cool. Just a quick bath.” Now, in old tales, animals sometimes take off their skins as though they were clothes. So Cow and Carabao neatly folded their magical “clothes” on the bank and went into the river. “What a life!” Cow sighed, sinking up to her neck. Carabao snorted happily and blew bubbles through his nose. “We should have done this sooner.” They splashed and played until they completely forgot the time. Then Carabao's ears lifted. “Do you hear that?” A branch snapped somewhere in the distance. Footsteps followed. Then came a familiar call. “Cooow! Carabao!” The farmer was coming along the bank. In his hand was the long stick he used for testing the path and pushing aside tall grass. “He found us!” cried Cow. “Quickly, get dressed!” They scrambled from the river. Water streamed from them. On the bank lay two similar bundles. In their hurry, neither stopped to check which was which. Carabao grabbed the first. Cow grabbed the second. On went the magical clothes. “Run!” They hurried down the path. The farmer tried to follow, but he too was tired from the long journey and soon stopped. “Stubborn creatures,” he muttered. “Perhaps I truly have been working them too hard.” Far from the farm, Cow and Carabao finally reached a green meadow. “We made it,” Carabao said. Cow nodded, then rubbed her neck against a tree. “Something feels strange.” Carabao rolled his shoulders. “And mine feels terribly tight.” They looked at one another. For a moment they said nothing. Then Cow's eyes widened. “I am wearing your clothes!” “And I am wearing yours!” Carabao cried. They laughed so loudly that birds rose from the grass. Carabao was larger than Cow, so Cow's magical clothing fit him far too tightly, especially around the neck. Carabao's clothing was too large for Cow and hung in soft folds around her neck. “We should switch back,” Cow said. But the two friends had already traveled far from the river, and new roads lay ahead. They kept postponing the exchange. First they needed somewhere to sleep. Then a pasture. Then they had hills to cross. Eventually they became so accustomed to their new appearance that they stopped worrying about it. And so, according to the old Filipino story, Cow has loose skin around her neck, almost like an oversized collar, while Carabao's skin fits him more closely. Did it truly happen that way? Of course not. It is an old story told to answer a child's “why?” But when you see a cow and a carabao, you can imagine two tired friends leaping from a cool river, putting on the wrong magical clothes in a hurry, and racing away toward a new life.

May this story leave a little light in your heart ✨