92.The Donkey and His Driver
A DONKEY was driven along a high road when suddenly he started off and bolted to the brink of a very deep gorge. Just as he was throwing himself over, his owner seized him by the tail, trying to pull him back. When the donkey persisted anyway, the man let him go and said,
“Conquer, but conquer to your cost.”
❖ One may rise into prominence and power by pushing upwards and visiting great men, but hardly by blindly deluding oneself.
91.The Donkey and His Buyer
A MAN wished to buy a donkey, and agreed with its owner that he should try out the animal before he bought him. He took the donkey home and led it to the manger to mix with his other donkeys. Very quickly the new animal turned his back on the others and joined the one that was most idle and the greatest eater of them all. Seeing this, the man put a halter on him and led him back to his owner.
On being asked how he could have given it a fair trial in so short a time, he answered,
“I don’t need a trial. I feel certain that he’ll be like the one he chose for his companion.”
❖ People often judge us by the company we keep.
90.The Dolphins, the Whales, and the Sprat
THE DOLPHINS and Whales waged a fierce war with each other. When the battle was at its height, a sprat lifted its head out of the waves and said that he would reconcile their differences if they would accept him as an umpire. One of the dolphins replied,
“We would far rather be destroyed in our battle with each other than admit any interference from you in our affairs.”
89.The Dog’s House
IN THE WINTERTIME, a dog curled up in as small a space as possible on account of the cold, determined to make himself a house. However when the summer returned again, he lay asleep stretched at his full length and appeared to himself to be of a great size. Now he considered that it would be neither an easy nor a necessary work to make himself such a house as would accommodate him.
❖ Laziness travels so slowly that poverty overtakes him.
