The Foolish Farmer

A farmer and his son were car­rying their donkey in a wheel­barrow to the market so as not to tire the animal. Seeing them the villagers laughed. “Who­ever has seen a man wheeling a donkey?” they said. This worried the farmer who then rode the donkey. Then the people said, “Look at the self­ish man! He is sitting on the donkey while his poor son is running behind!” The farmer put his son on the donkey and began to walk. The people said, “Look at that boy! He is making his old father walk while he sits happy!” Now, both the farmer and the son sat on the donkey and went to the market. The people cried, “Look at them! They are so cruel to the animal!” The farmer decided to tie the don­key’s legs to a staff and carry it. The frightened donkey strug­gled to free himself and fell into the river and drowned.