After finishing lunch, the white cat lay down in the yard and fell fast asleep. The black dog, noticing a stranger passing by outside the courtyard gate, began barking loudly and rushed out quickly, accidentally stepping on the white cat's tail. Startled awake, the white cat pointed at the black dog's eyes and angrily shouted, "I'm trying to sleep, yet you keep barking and deliberately stepped on my tail! Are you blind?"
The black dog pointed at the white cat's nose and snapped back fiercely, "I'm always alert, guarding our home and preventing thieves from sneaking in, while you lie here comfortably taking a nap! Lazy cat, if I stepped on you, it's your own fault!"
Hearing the black dog's words, the white cat grew even angrier and yelled, "I spend all night catching mice! Isn't it only fair that I rest during the day? You brute, you stepped on me on purpose—you're clearly trying to pick a fight!"
Both the white cat and the black dog believed they were in the right, and after a fierce argument, they stopped speaking to each other. One day, the goat said to the white cat, "You and the black dog don't have any serious conflict; it's just over a small matter. Both of you were at fault in the quarrel. You should apologize to each other and make up quickly."
The white cat thought for a moment and replied, "You're right—we don't really have any big issues. If the black dog comes to apologize to me first, I'll forgive him."
Then the goat went to the black dog and said, "You and the white cat don't have any serious conflict; it's just over a small matter. Both of you were at fault in the quarrel. You should apologize to each other and make up quickly."
The black dog thought for a while and said, "Yes, we don't really have any big problems. If the white cat comes to apologize to me first, then I'll forgive him."
A long time passed, and the goat noticed that the white cat and the black dog still hadn't reconciled. He asked the white cat, "Why haven't you made up with the black dog yet?" The white cat replied, "I've been waiting for him to come and apologize to me first, but he never has!" The goat then asked the black dog, "Why don't you apologize to the white cat?" The black dog answered, "I've been waiting for him to come and apologize to me first, but he never has!"
The goat called the white cat and the black dog together and said to them earnestly, "You both think it would be embarrassing to be the first to apologize, so you're both waiting for the other to make the first move. But how can you ever reconcile this way? In truth, forgiving others, having the courage to reflect on your own mistakes, and taking the initiative to apologize—that's what truly shows you have good manners and dignity!"