The Calm Old Donkey
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One day, an old farmer’s donkey accidentally fell into a well in the backyard. It brayed to let the farmer know it was there. The farmer shouted into the well,“Don’t be afraid, Donkey! Wait for a while,and I will think of a way to get you out.”The farmer tried many ways to get the donkey out of the well, but none of his methods worked.
Finally, the farmer said to himself, “This donkey is old and is no longer able to carry loads. Since I cannot think of a way to save it, I might as well fill the well with sand and give the donkey a quick death or it will slowly die of starvation.”And so, the farmer enlisted the help of his neighbors and began to fill the well with sand.
The old donkey realized that its master wanted to bury it in the well. When it remembered how hard it had worked for its master, and how its master wanted to bury it now, it began to cry. After a while, it stopped crying and thought,“I need to calm down. Instead of relying on others to save me, I need to think of a way to save myself.”The farmer wondered why the donkey stopped crying, and looked into the well. What he saw amazed him, for when the sand fell upon the donkey’s back, it shook its back and allowed the sand to settle at the bottom, and stepped upon the rising mound of sand in the well.
Slowly, the donkey continued to shake the sand off its back and step onto the growing mound of sand. Eventually, the sand had gotten so high that the donkey reached the top of the well. While everyone was surprised to see the donkey, it ran off as fast as it could into the forest.
