As a man was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge animals were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was clear that the elephants could, at any time can break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not.
He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and didn’t try to get away. “Well,” the trainer said, “when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are started to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”
The man was surprised. These animals believed they couldn’t break the bonds. They were stuck right where they were.
