The Hungarian Cows = Jealousy Metaphor

When we first moved here and I started teaching at the university, my department head had some reason for telling me a Hungarian story. This is the way her version went. You have a cow and your neighbor has a cow. By some good fortune, you acquire a second cow. Your neighbor sees the second cow and starts to pray. "Dear God, please kill my neighbor's cows." I bet you were expecting the neighbor to pray for a second cow also, were you? Well, the moral of the story is that if you had two cows it would be twice as much work; however, the green eyed monster of jealousy does not want your neighbor to be better than you are or equal to you, but in more dire straits. Fire up the BBQ, the cow is dead. This little tale will be referred to in future posts, starting with the next one.

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