Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Baxter Black: A boy and his goat

There is a parable of the International Goat Sensation. A story about a boy and his goat. Tim was a kindhearted graduate student who raised longhorn cattle. On his daily trips from the ranch to school and back, he passed a plowed field with sparse feed left. A big horse and a small goat stood by the fence and watched him as he came and went. Concerned for their well-being, on the third day he stopped at the feed store, bought some hay pellets and, after dark, sneaked back to the pasture and fed them. One day he saw a man loading the horse in a trailer. Tim pulled in to visit, never mentioning his "meals on wheels" activity. It turned out the owner had been hospitalized, and his brother was picking up the horse. The sick owner had given instructions to sell the animals. "I've got the horse sold," he told Tim, "but my brother promised the goat to a family of 'exchange students' from Mexico, and I'm afraid they plan to eat him." This saddened Tim, so he reluctantly took the goat. He named him Chico. Back home Chico didn't fit in with the longhorns. They used him variously as a soccer ball, shot put, back scrubber and tank float. He also stank...read more

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