• The Horse and the Donkey

    Aesop's Fables
    On a bright, breezy morning, a farmer was getting ready for a trip to the market. He had two helpers: a strong, proud horse named Harry and a smaller, hardworking donkey named Dotty.

    The farmer started to load up Dotty. He put a big sack of apples on her back. Then a sack of carrots. Then a heavy bag of potatoes! "Oof!" grunted Dotty. Her back was piled high!

    Harry the horse, on the other hand, just had a light, empty saddle placed on his back. He pranced around, flicking his shiny mane. "I look rather grand today!" he thought to himself.

    They set off down the dusty road. The sun began to climb, and it got warmer and warmer. Poor Dotty was huffing and puffing under her heavy load. Her little legs were starting to ache.

    "Harry," she panted, "could you please, please help me? Maybe you could carry just one of these small bags? My legs are so tired."

    Harry tossed his head. "Certainly not, Dotty!" he neighed. "I am a fine horse, meant for carrying important riders, not lumpy sacks. You're a donkey; carrying things is your job!"

    Dotty sighed sadly and kept trudging along. But soon, the weight was just too much. Her knees wobbled, her legs trembled, and with a big sigh, Dotty stumbled and fell right down in the middle of the road. She couldn't get up.

    The farmer rushed over. "Oh dear, my poor Dotty!" he said. He saw she couldn't carry anything more. So, he carefully took all the heavy sacks off Dotty's back.

    And where do you think he put them?

    He piled every single sack – the apples, the carrots, the potatoes – onto Harry's back! And then, because Dotty couldn't carry anything, he even put Dotty's heavy saddle on top of everything else on Harry's back too!

    Harry groaned. The load was enormous! His own legs started to wobble. "Oh!" he puffed, struggling to walk. "This is so heavy! If only I had helped Dotty with just one small bag, I wouldn't be carrying all of this now. I wish I hadn't been so proud!" And he had to carry that huge load all the way to market.

    1814 Views