The farmer uses the buffaloes for plowing for only a few hours, and he gives them plenty of time for wallowing and enjoying themselves. So, even if they have to do a little work, the new buffaloes soon see that they are really much better off living in the village than running wild in the jungle.
After the plowing season is over, the buffaloes have no work at all. They can wallow all day, if they want to.
When all the new buffaloes are quite tame, they are not kept in the corral any more, as they would never think of running away now. They are allowed to lie about and sleep in a little plot of ground somewhere in the village. By daytime they are taken out into the fields outside the village, and allowed to graze as they please; and as there is always a stream or a pond near, the buffaloes can go into the water or the mud whenever they like.
So, as you understand, the buffaloes very soon become quite tame. Why? Because they are treated kindly. Please remember that. Most wild animals can be tamed if treated kindly.
Now I am coming to the nicest part about the buffaloes. It is the nicest part because it shows how the buffaloes can even be made to love us.
I have just told you that the buffaloes are taken out into the fields to graze. Well, then, somebody has to do that in the morning, and somebody has to bring them home in the evening.
Can you tell who does that? Why, there is a herdsman to do it, you may say. Quite true. But the herdsman does not bother to do a simple thing like that every day.
Little Boys Take Charge of Buffaloes
Then who does it? I shall tell you. The little boys of the village! They are about five or six years of age. They are not old enough to go to school, and not old enough to do any work; so they can play all day.
The most useful thing they can do is to take charge of the buffaloes. The boys soon learn all the buffalo calls—"Come out to graze," "Come to wallow," or "Come home now." And the wonderful thing is that these huge animals soon learn to obey these calls. When the boys call to them, the buffaloes do just as they are ordered.