INTELLIGENCE OF THE ASS. 591 



It is a very great mistake to employ the name of Ass or donkey as a metaphor for stupid- 

 ity, for the Ass is truly one of the cleverest of our domesticated animals, and will lose no 

 opportunity of displaying his capability whenever his intelligence is allowed to expand by 

 being freed from the crushing toil and constant pain that are too often the concomitants of a 

 donkey' s life. Every one who has petted a favorite donkey will remember many traits of its 

 mental capacities ; for as in the case of the domestic fool of the olden days, there is far more 

 knavery than folly about the creature. 



One of these animals was lately detected in a most ingenious theft. A number of rabbits 

 were kept in a little outhouse, and inhabited a set of hutches fastened to the wall. One day 

 it was found that nearly all the store of oats had suddenly vanished from the outhouse with- 

 out any visible reason. Next morning, however, the donkey who lived in an adjoining meadow 

 was seen to open the gate which led into his field, and cautiously shut it after him. This con- 

 duct afforded a clue to the disappearance of the oats, and upon a careful search being made, 

 his footmarks were traced along the path to the rabbit-house, and even on the ground among 

 the hutches. It was very clear that the ingenious animal must have unlatched his own gate, 

 unfastened the loop of the rabbit-house, finished all the oats, and have returned as he went, 

 re-fastening all the doors behind him. In leaving the rabbit-house he must have backed out, 

 as the place was not wide enough to permit him to turn. 



He was very familiar with the children, and would permit three of them to ride on his 

 back together. After a while the boys went to school, and some ponies were procured for the 

 other members of the family, so that Sancho had a long holiday. When the boys returned 

 from school, they mounted Sancho as usual for the purpose of having their ride. The cunning 

 animal allowed them to seat themselves, and then coolly shook them olf again. This process 

 he repeated until they gave up the hopeless attempt, and Sancho gained his purpose. 



That a donkey has more than once succeeded in beating off the attacks of a leopard by 

 vigorous and rapid kicks of his hind-feet is well known, and an incident occurred some 

 years ago which shows that the animal is as valiant in opposing dogs as in fighting leopards. 

 A surly, ill-intentioned man, who possessed an equally surly bull-dog, set his animal at an 

 unoffending donkey. The bull-dog, nothing loth, made at his intended victim and sprang at 

 him. The Ass, however, cleverly avoided the dog's onset, seized him in its teeth, carried him 

 to a river near which the scene occurred, plunged him under water, and there lying down xipon 

 him, prevented him from regaining the surface, and fairly drowned his opponent. 



Another Ass displayed a singular discrimination of palate, being celebrated for his love of 

 good ale. At one road-side inn the landlady had been very kind in supplying the donkey with 

 a glass of his loved beverage, and the natural consequence was, that the animal could never be 

 induced to pass within a moderate distance of the spot without going for his beer. Neither 

 entreaties nor force sufficed to turn Ms head in another direction, and his master was in such 

 cases obliged to make the best of the matter, and permit the animal to partake of his 

 desired refreshment. He had a curious knack of taking a tumbler of beer between his lips, 

 and drinking the contents without spilling a drop of the liquid or breaking the glass. So 

 curious a sight as a donkey drinking beer was certain to attract many observers, who testi- 

 fied their admiration by treating the animal to more beer. His head, however, was fortu- 

 nately a strong one, for only once in his life was he ever seen intoxicated, and on that soli- 

 tary occasion his demeanor was wonderfully decorous. 



A petted donkey belonging to one of my friends was permitted to walk at large in the 

 garden, on condition that he restrained himself from leaving the regular paths. Once or 

 twice he had been seduced by the charms of some plant to walk upon the flower-beds, and had 

 been accordingly drubbed by the gardener, who detected the robber by the marks of his foot- 

 steps, which were deeply imprinted in the soft mould. After a while the animal seemed to 

 have reflected upon the circumstance which led to the discovery of his offence, and the next 

 time that he walked upon the flower-beds, he scraped the earth over his foot-marks, and 

 endeavored to obliterate the traces of his disobedience. As, however, his hoofs were not very 

 delicate tools, and his method of levelling anything but gentle, the marks were more conspic- 

 uous than before. 



