One there lived a man with his family in a village. They had a donkey. The man earned his livelihood by carrying loads of material on the back of his donkey.
One year there was plenty harvest in the nearby village. The grain was available cheaply. So the village headman asked the man to bring two stacks of grain from the nearby village market. The man took his son along with him. He fed the donkey adequately to enable it journey to the market.
They started their journey and started walking alongside the donkey. On the way, two men passed by them and said, 'Are you both fools? You have a donkey but none of you are riding its back'.
Hearing them the man put his son the donkey's back.
As they went further, they passed by a group of men. One of them said, 'What an irony! See this youngster is merrily riding the donkey's back and lets his father walk. Pity the father on bearing such a son !'.
Hearing this the man asked his son to get off the donkey's back. He sat in the donkey's back and together they all went further.
As they went further, they came across two women. One of them said, 'See, this man is riding the donkey himself. He is least concerned about his little son'.
The man was offended to hear what the woman said. He immediately asked his son to come and sit with him on the donkey's back.
As they neared the town, the number of people around increased. Many of the bypassers mocked at them. Some gave them disgusting looks. The man was again offended and disturbed. He asked one man, 'Why are you all jeering at us?'
The man said, 'Friend, don't you see how you and your son are overloading a poor animal? The animal is almost down on its feet'.
The man startled. He gazed helplessly in wonder. This jaw dropped and his mouth opened in helplessly. His sin called him, 'Father, let's get down'.
They got down the donkey and thought for a while. They sat under a tree and rested for a while.
Suddenly, the man thought of carrying the donkey instead of loading it or letting it walk. So he brought a thick bamboo, and pulled a rope from his bag.
The man tied the donkey's legs to the bamboo. They took the bamboo on their shoulders. As they walked, people jeered and laughed on them. The man and his son ignored the people.
They reached the bridge leading to the other side of the river where the market was set.
In the middle of the bridge, one of the foot of donkey went loose. The donkey kicked the boy who lost his balance and fell on the bridge. The donkey fell over the bridge into the river. People around watched I wonder, while the man cried for help. The donkey struggled to gt out, but its fore feet were tied. It was unable to swim up. Soon the donkey drowned and died.
Moral: Please all, and you will please none.
No comments :
Post a Comment