THE MILLER, HIS SON AND THE ASS

 


One day, a long time ago, an old miller and his son were on their way to market with an ass which they hoped to sell. They drove him very slowly, for they thought they would have a better chance to sell him if they kept him in good condition. As they walked along the highway, some travelers laughed loudly at them.

“What foolishness,” cried one, “to walk when they might as well ride. “The most stupid of the three is not the one you would expect it to be.” The miller did not like to be laughed at, so he told his son to climb up and ride.

They had gone a little farther along the road, when three merchants passed by.

“Oho, what have we here?” they cried. “Respect old age, young man! Get down and let the old man ride!”

Though the miller was not tired, he made the boy get down and climbed up himself to ride, just to please the merchants. At the next turnstile they overtook some women carrying market baskets loaded with vegetables and other things to sell.

“Look at that old fool,” exclaimed one of them. “Perched on the ass while that poor boy has to walk.”

The old miller felt a bit vexed, but to be agreeable he told the boy to climb up behind him. They had no sooner started out again than a loud shout went up from another company of people on the road.

“What a crime,” cried one, “to load up a poor dumb beast like that! They look more able to carry the poor creature than he to carry them.”

“They must be on their way to sell the poor thing’s hide,” said another.

Then the miller and his son quickly scrambled down. A short time later, the marketplace was thrown into an uproar as the two came along carrying the donkey slung from a pole. A great crowd of people ran out to get a closer look at the strange sight.

The ass did not dislike being carried, but so many people came out to point at him and laugh and shout, that he began to kick and bray, and then, the ropes that held him gave way, and down he tumbled into the river.

The poor miller went sadly home. By trying to please everybody, he had pleased nobody, and lost his ass besides.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

HOW WE GOT THE NAME “SPIDER TALES”

Image
IN the olden days all the stories which men told were stories of Nyankupon, the chief of the gods. Spider, who was very conceited, wanted the stories to be told about him. Accordingly, one day he went to Nyankupon and asked that, in future, all tales told by men might be Anansi stories, instead of Nyankupon stories. Nyankupon agreed, on one condition. He told Spider (or Anansi) that he must bring him three things: the first was a jar full of live bees, the second was a boa-constrictor, and the third a tiger. Spider gave his promise. He took an earthen vessel and set out for a place where he knew were numbers of bees. When he came in sight of the bees he began saying to himself, “They will not be able to fill this jar”— “Yes, they will be able”—“No, they will not be able,” until the bees came up to him and said, “What are you talking about, Mr. Anansi?” He thereupon explained to them that Nyankupon and he had had a great dispute. Nyankupon had said the bees could not fly into
Read more

THE STORY OF FIVE HEADS

Image
  HERE was once a man living in a certain place, who had two daughters big enough to be married. One day the man went over the river to another village, which was the residence of a great chief The people asked him to tell them the news. He replied, that there was no news in the place that he came from. Then the man inquired about the news of their place. They said the news of their place was that the chief wanted a wife. The man went home and said to his two daughters: "Which of you wishes to be the wife of a chief?" The eldest replied: "I wish to be the wife of a chief, my father." The name of that girl was Mpunzikazi. The man said: "At that village which I visited, the chief wishes for a wife; you, my daughter, shall go." The man called all his friends, and assembled a large company to go with his daughter to the village of the chief. But the girl would not consent that those people should go with her. She said: "I will go alone to be the wife of t
Read more

BELLING THE CAT

Image
       The mice once called a meeting to decide on a plan to free themselves of their enemy, the cat. At least they wished to find some way of knowing when she was coming, so they might have some time to run away. Indeed, something had to be done, for they lived in such constant fear of her claws that they hardly dared stir from their dens by night or day. Many plans were discussed, but none of them was thought good enough.  At last, a very young mouse got up and said, “I have a plan that seems very simple, but I know it will be successful. All we have to do is hang a bell around the cat’s neck.  When we hear the bell ringing, we will know immediately that our enemy is coming.”   All the mice were so surprised that they had not thought of such a plan before. But in the midst of the rejoicing over their good fortune, an old mouse rose up and said, “I will say that the plan of the young mouse is very good. But let me ask one question: Who will hang the bell on the cat?”
Read more