A story about friendship and respect..
The Four Harmonious Friends is a very commonly recurring theme in Bhutanese folk art, and can be found in several murals and decorative artefacts across Bhutan. The depiction is that of an elephant standing under a fruit tree and carrying a monkey, rabbit and peacock, each one on top of the other.
The scene refers to a legend where, in one of their several conversations, the four friends were trying to figure out which one was the oldest. The elephant remarked that the tree was already fully grown when it was young. The monkey chimed in that the tree was very small when it was young. The rabbit said that it had seen the tree as a sapling when young. The peacock finally exclaimed that it had excreted the seed from which the sapling had developed and finally grown into a tree. The peacock was thus recognised as the oldest amongst the four.
Even though the elephant was the mightiest and the peacock was the oldest, individually none of them could get to the fruits in the tree. They climbed on top of each other to reach the required height and together enjoyed the fruits.
The story is meant as an illustration of cooperation and respect for all sizes, age, appearance and individual strengths. Each of the animals represent the 4 qualities extremely essential in life. The elephant represents strength, monkey represents wisdom, the rabbit represents speed and finally the peacock represents vision.
