THE ASS 363 



cies, the qualities of the ass, without depreciating 

 the animal by comparisons with others that are 

 stronger and better endowed. Do we despise rye 

 because it is not so good as wheat? We thank 

 Heaven for both, the first as the valued crop of the 

 mountains, the second as that of the plains. Let 

 us not, then, despise the ass because it is inferior to 

 the horse. It possesses the good qualities of its 

 species, and cannot possess others. We fail to rec- 

 ognize that the ass would be our foremost, our finest, 

 our best made, our most distinguished domestic ani- 

 mal if there were no horse in the world. It is sec- 

 ond instead of first, and for that reason seems as 

 nothing to us. It is comparison that degrades it. 

 We look at it and judge it, not on its own merits, but 

 relatively to the horse. We forget that it has all the 

 good qualities of its nature, all the gifts belonging 

 to its species, and remember only the beauty and 

 merits of the horse, which it would be impossible for 

 the ass to possess.' 



" Buff on asserts that the nobility of the ass is as 

 ancient as that of the horse. I will venture even 

 further than the master and maintain that it is cer- 

 tainly more ancient in the sense that the ass was do- 

 mesticated before the horse. It was the first to 

 serve the Asiatic shepherds in their migration in 

 quest of better pasturage. It carried the folded 

 tent, the dairy utensils, the new-born lambs, the 

 women and children. What animal did the ancient 

 patriarchs ride? What did Abraham ride on his 

 journey into Egypt? The ass, my friends, the 



