# The Man, The Boy and the Donkey (by Aesop)

- Link: https://dismasfellowshipnetwork.com/reflections/the-man-the-boy-and-the-donkey-by-aesop/
- Published: 2021-05-11T12:49:14-04:00
- Author: Paul Tuck

**[[The Man, the Boy, and the Donkey/ ** **A Fable by** **Aesop**

A man and his son were once going with their donkey to market. As they were walking
along by his 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 passersby 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
yours — you and your hulking son?”

The man and boy got off and tried to think what to do. They thought and they thought,
until 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 until they came to a 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 forefeet being tied together, he was drowned.

**Moral:  Try to please everyone and no one will be happy!**

**REFLECTION QUESTION:  **Can you recall an incident where you had to try to please
too many people?  OR  How do you handle it when it seems that people are expecting
too much of you?