The She Goats and Their Beards

The she-goats wanted beards. So they went to Jupiter, king of the gods, and they asked him for them. "Just one each," they said. "Like the ones the he-goats have."

Jupiter nodded, and it was done. By morning every she-goat had a fine beard hanging from her chin. They trotted up and down the hillside, tossing their heads, and they peered at themselves in the stream. How grand they felt!

The he-goats did not feel grand at all. They stamped. They snorted. They marched up the mountain in a long, cross line and banged their horns on Jupiter's gate.

"It isn't fair!" cried the oldest he-goat. "A beard is our badge! It is how you can tell we are the strong ones! Now they look just as fine as we do!"

Jupiter looked down at them and stroked his own great beard. "Let them enjoy it," he said. "A beard is only hair. It gives no one strength. It gives no one courage. If those are the things that make you proud, what have you lost?"