The Blind Horse and the Gander
STRANGE attachments often spring up between two animals, and the bond is apt to be stronger if either one happens to be suffering from any misfortune. A gentleman once owned a blind horse which occupied the same pasture with a flock of geese. A gander, seeing the difficulty the horse had in getting about, left his companions and attached himself to his blind friend. All day long they kept together, the gander cackling constantly to give signs of his presence. He would lead the horse to the best pasturage and to water, and would accompany him to the stall, where they had their meals served together, the horse often dropping a mouthful of food for his feathered friend. When the poor blind creature died, the gander seemed utterly lost; he wandered round disconsolately for a week, refused to eat, and at the end of that time had grieved himself to death.