-retold by James Baldwin.
Once upon a time a man and his son were going to market, and they were leading their donkey behind them. They had not gone far when they met a farmer, who said," You are very foolish to walk all the way to town with that lazy donkey following behind you. What is a donkey good for, if not to ride upon?"
"Well, I never thought of that," said the man, "and I am very willing to please you." So he put the boy on the donkey, and they started again on their journey.
Soon they passed some men by the roadside. "See that lazy boy," said one of them. "He rides on the donkey, and makes his poor old father walk behind."
When the man heard this, he called to the boy and said,"Stop a minute! Let us see if we cannot please this men." Then he told the boy to get off, and mounted the donkey himself.
Two women next met them, and one said to the other, "Did you ever see so lazy a man? He rides and takes his ease, while his son walk behind."
The did not know what to do. "My son," he said, "I think we should try to please everybody, but how can we please the women and the men at the same time?" After a while he thought of a plan. He took the boy up behind him, and the donkey went jogging along with both of them on his back.
When, at last, they came into the town, a crowd of men began to jeer and point at them. The man stopped said, "What is the matter, my good friends?"
"Matter enough!" said the men. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself for being so cruel to that donkey. It is too much for so small an animal to carry so heavy a load."
"I had not thought of that," said the man. "It does seem hard for the donkey, but then we were only trying to please some of our friends." So he and his son got off and tried to think what to do next.
They thought and thought till at last a happy idea came into their minds. They found a long pole, and tied the donkey's feet to it. Then after a great deal of hard work, they raised the pole on their shoulders. The donkey did not like this, but he could not help himself.
It was as much as the man and the boy could do to carry him. But they up stood very straight, while all the people laughed at the funny sight. "I think that we are pleasing everybody now," said the man.
When they came to market Bridge, the donkey got one his feet loose, and kicked out. This made the boy drop his end of the pole. The donkey fell on the bridge and rolled over into the river and was drowned.
"I think, my son," said the man, "that we may learn a lesson from all this."
"What kind of a lesson, Father?"
"Try to please everybody, and you will please nobody."
THIS IS CLEARLY A MESSAGE TO WASHINGTON FOR DEBT TALKS
