The Man, the Boy, and the Donkey

The Man, the Boy, and the Donkey

A Man and his son were once going with their Donkey to market.

As they were walking along by its side a countryman passed them

and said: "You fools, what is a Donkey for but to ride upon?"

So the Man put the Boy on the Donkey and they went on their

way. But soon they passed a group of men, one of whom said: "See

that lazy youngster, he lets his father walk while he rides."

So the Man ordered his Boy to get off, and got on himself.

But they hadn't gone far when they passed two women, one of whom

said to the other: "Shame on that lazy lout to let his poor little

son trudge along."

Well, the Man didn't know what to do, but at last he took his

Boy up before him on the Donkey. By this time they had come to

the town, and the passers-by began to jeer and point at them. The

Man stopped and asked what they were scoffing at. The men said:

"Aren't you ashamed of yourself for overloading that poor donkey

of yoursu and your hulking son?"

The Man and Boy got off and tried to think what to do. They

thought and they thought, till at last they cut down a pole, tied

the donkey's feet to it, and raised the pole and the donkey to

their shoulders. They went along amid the laughter of all who met

them till they came to Market Bridge, when the Donkey, getting one

of his feet loose, kicked out and caused the Boy to drop his end

of the pole. In the struggle the Donkey fell over the bridge, and

his fore-feet being tied together he was drowned.

"That will teach you," said an old man who had followed them:

"Please all, and you will please none."

The Miser and His Gold

Once upon a time there was a Miser who used to hide his gold

at the foot of a tree in his garden; but every week he used to go

and dig it up and gloat over his gains. A robber, who had noticed

this, went and dug up the gold and decamped with it. When the

Miser next came to gloat over his treasures, he found nothing but

the empty hole. He tore his hair, and raised such an outcry that

all the neighbours came around him, and he told them how he used

to come and visit his gold. "Did you ever take any of it out?"

asked one of them.

"Nay," said he, "I only came to look at it."

"Then come again and look at the hole," said a neighbour; "it

will do you just as much good."

Wealth unused might as well not exist.

The Fox and the Mosquitoes

A Fox after crossing a river got its tail entangled in a bush,

and could not move. A number of Mosquitoes seeing its plight

settled upon it and enjoyed a good meal undisturbed by its tail.

A hedgehog strolling by took pity upon the Fox and went up to him:

"You are in a bad way, neighbour," said the hedgehog; "shall I

relieve you by driving off those Mosquitoes who are sucking your

blood?"

"Thank you, Master Hedgehog," said the Fox, "but I would

rather not."

"Why, how is that?" asked the hedgehog.

"Well, you see," was the answer, "these Mosquitoes have had

their fill; if you drive these away, others will come with fresh

appetite and bleed me to death."

The Fox Without a Tail

It happened that a Fox caught its tail in a trap, and in

struggling to release himself lost all of it but the stump. At

first he was ashamed to show himself among his fellow foxes. But

at last he determined to put a bolder face upon his misfortune,

and summoned all the foxes to a general meeting to consider a

proposal which he had to place before them. When they had

assembled together the Fox proposed that they should all do away

with their tails. He pointed out how inconvenient a tail was when

they were pursued by their enemies, the dogs; how much it was in

the way when they desired to sit down and hold a friendly

conversation with one another. He failed to see any advantage in

carrying about such a useless encumbrance. "That is all very

well," said one of the older foxes; "but I do not think you would

have recommended us to dispense with our chief ornament if you had

not happened to lose it yourself."

Distrust interested advice.

The One-Eyed Doe

A Doe had had the misfortune to lose one of her eyes, and

could not see any one approaching her on that side. So to avoid

any danger she always used to feed on a high cliff near the sea,

with her sound eye looking towards the land. By this means she

could see whenever the hunters approached her on land, and often

escaped by this means. But the hunters found out that she was

blind of one eye, and hiring a boat rowed under the cliff where

she used to feed and shot her from the sea. "Ah," cried she with

her dying voice,

"You cannot escape your fate."

Belling the Cat

Long ago, the mice had a general council to consider what

measures they could take to outwit their common enemy, the Cat.

Some said this, and some said that; but at last a young mouse got

up and said he had a proposal to make, which he thought would meet

the case. "You will all agree," said he, "that our chief danger

consists in the sly and treacherous manner in which the enemy

approaches us. Now, if we could receive some signal of her

approach, we could easily escape from her. I venture, therefore,

to propose that a small bell be procured, and attached by a ribbon

round the neck of the Cat. By this means we should always know

when she was about, and could easily retire while she was in the

neighbourhood."

This proposal met with general applause, until an old mouse

got up and said: "That is all very well, but who is to bell the

Cat?" The mice looked at one another and nobody spoke. Then the

old mouse said:

"It is easy to propose impossible remedies."

The Hare and the Tortoise

The Hare was once boasting of his speed before the other

animals. "I have never yet been beaten," said he, "when I put

forth my full speed. I challenge any one here to race with me."

The Tortoise said quietly, "I accept your challenge."

"That is a good joke," said the Hare; "I could dance round you

all the way."

"Keep your boasting till you've beaten," answered the

Tortoise. "Shall we race?"

So a course was fixed and a start was made. The Hare darted

almost out of sight at once, but soon stopped and, to show his

contempt for the Tortoise, lay down to have a nap. The Tortoise

plodded on and plodded on, and when the Hare awoke from his nap,

he saw the Tortoise just near the winning-post and could not run

up in time to save the race. Then said the Tortoise:

"Plodding wins the race."

The Old Man and Death

An old labourer, bent double with age and toil, was gathering

sticks in a forest. At last he grew so tired and hopeless that he

threw down the bundle of sticks, and cried out: "I cannot bear

this life any longer. Ah, I wish Death would only come and take

me!"

As he spoke, Death, a grisly skeleton, appeared and said to

him: "What wouldst thou, Mortal? I heard thee call me."

"Please, sir," replied the woodcutter, "would you kindly help

me to lift this faggot of sticks on to my shoulder?"

We would often be sorry if our wishes were gratified.

The Hare With Many Friends

A Hare was very popular with the other beasts who all claimed

to be her friends. But one day she heard the hounds approaching

and hoped to escape them by the aid of her many Friends. So, she

went to the horse, and asked him to carry her away from the hounds

on his back. But he declined, stating that he had important work

to do for his master. "He felt sure," he said, "that all her

other friends would come to her assistance." She then applied to

the bull, and hoped that he would repel the hounds with his horns.

The bull replied: "I am very sorry, but I have an appointment with

a lady; but I feel sure that our friend the goat will do what you

want." The goat, however, feared that his back might do her some

harm if he took her upon it. The ram, he felt sure, was the

proper friend to apply to. So she went to the ram and told him

the case. The ram replied: "Another time, my dear friend. I do

not like to interfere on the present occasion, as hounds have been

known to eat sheep as well as hares." The Hare then applied, as a

last hope, to the calf, who regretted that he was unable to help

her, as he did not like to take the responsibility upon himself,

as so many older persons than himself had declined the task. By

this time the hounds were quite near, and the Hare took to her

heels and luckily escaped.

He that has many friends, has no friends.