A Man and his Son were once driving their
Ass along a country road, to sell him at the
fair. They soon passed some girls, who were
drawing water at a well.
"Look," said one of the
girls; "see those
silly people trudging along in the dust, while
their Ass walks at his ease."
The Man heard what they said, and put his
boy no the Ass's back. They
had not gone
far before they came to some old men.
"See here, now," said one of
them to the
others, "this shows that what I said is true.
Now-a-day the young take no care of the old.
See this boy riding while his poor old father
has to walk by his side."
Hearing this, the Man told his
Son to get
down, and he mounted the Ass himself. In
a
little while, they met three women
with chil-
dren in their arms. "For shame!"
said the
women. "How can you let
that poor boy
walk when he looks so tired, and you ride like
a king?"
The Man then took the boy up behind
him
on the saddle, and they rode on to the town.
Just before they got there, some young men
stopped them, and said:
"Is that Ass yours?" "Yes," said the
Man.
"One would not think so," said they, "by the
way you load him. You look more fit to carry
him than he to carry you."
So the Man and the Boy got off,
tied the
Ass's legs with a rope, and fastened him to a
pole; and, each taking one end of the pole,
carried him along, while everyone they met
laughed outright. By and by they came to
a
bridge. Then the Ass began to
kick, and,
breaking the rope, fell into the water, and was
drowned.
The old Man took his Son, and went
home
as best he could, thinking to himself, "When
we try to please everybody, we please nobody."
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