Domestic Animals 105 



should like that better; but, alas! donkeys have a 

 hard life," and he gave another bray. 



"I don't like mud," he continued. "I always 

 take pains to go around any I see in the road. I 

 like the clean, cool water, and will drink no other 

 kind. I never put my nose deep down in the tub, 

 though. I just take little sips. I heard a man say 

 we were afraid of the shadow our big ears make in 

 the water when we go to drink, but we are not so 

 silly. I am afraid of water, though, and I never 

 will cross a stream and get my feet wet if I can 

 possibly help it. 



"Donkeys have good eyes. I can tell my master 

 a long way off, and in the dark I know when he is 

 near, for I can smell him." 



"Can you gallop?" queried John. 



'Yes, but only a few minutes at a time. I can 

 run and pace, also, but it tires me to try to go swiftly. 

 Oh, I am only a slow beast!" 



"How old are you?" questioned Paul. 



"I don't know exactly, but it takes a baby donkey 

 about four years to grow to his full size, and he lives 

 to be twenty-five or thirty years old. 



"It takes less room for us than for horses, less 



