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Ignorance Once upon a time， there was a very famous priest ina very old religion. He decided it was the right day toperform the ritual sacrificing of a goat. In his ignorance，he thought this was an offering demanded by his god. He obtained an appropriate goat for the sacrifice. Heordered his servants to take the goat to the holy river andwash him and decorate him with flower garlands. Thenthey were to wash themselves， as part of the purificationpractice. Down at the riverbank， the goat suddenly understoodthat today he would definitely be killed. He also becameaware of his past births and deaths and rebirths. Herealized that the results of his past unwholesome deedswere about to finally be completed. So he laughed anuproarious goat-laugh， like the clanging of cymbals. In the midst of his laughter， he realized another truth that the priest， by sacrificing him， would suffer thesame terrible results， due to his ignorance. So he began tocry as loudly as he had just been laughing! The servants， who were bathing in the holy river，heard first the laughing and then the crying. They wereamazed. So they asked the goat， Why did you loudlylaugh and then just as loudly cry? What is the reason forthis? He replied， I will tell you the reason. But it mustbe in the presence of your master， the priest. Since they were very curious， they immediately tookthe sacrificial goat to the priest. They explained all thathad happened. The priest too， became very curious. Herespectfully asked the goat， Sir， why did you laugh soloudly， and then just as loudly cry? | 
