THE ASS. 449 



pure and clear. It will not, like the horse, wallow in mud or water; 

 and as its master too often forgets to groom it, it performs this duty by 

 rolling itself on the turf or the heather when opportunity offers. It has 

 sharp sight, an excellent sense of smell, and an ear of keen acuteness. If 

 it is laden too heavily, it remonstrates by drooping its head and lower- 

 ing its ears. " When it is teased," says Buffon, " it opens its mouth and 

 draws back its lips in a disagreeable manner, giving it a mocking and 

 derisive air." 



The Ass walks, trots, and gallops like the horse, but all its movements 

 are shorter and slower. Whatever pace it employs, if too hardly pressed, 

 it soon becomes tired ; if not hurried, it is most enduring. It sleeps less 

 than the horse, and never lies down for this purpose except when worn 

 out with fatigue. Buffon says that it never utters its long and discord- 

 ant cry, which passes in inharmonious succession from sharp to flat and 

 from flat to sharp, except when hungry, or desirous of expressing its 

 amorous feelings. Sometimes, however, it brays when frightened. 



Attaching itself readily and sincerely, it scents its master from afar, 

 and distinguishes him from all other persons, manifesting joy when he 

 approaches. It recognizes without difficulty the locality which it in- 

 habits, and the roads which it has frequented. When young, it cannot 

 fail to please by its gayety, activity, and gracefulness ; but age and ill- 

 treatment soon render it dull, slow, and headstrong. 



The Ass carries the heaviest weight in proportion to its size of all 

 beasts of burden ; it costs little or nothing to keep, and requires, so to 

 speak, no care ; it is a most useful auxiliary to the poor man, more 

 especially in rugged mountainous countries, where its sureness of foot 

 enables it to go where horses could not fail to meet with accidents. It 

 is, therefore, the horse of those of small means ; the abstemious and 

 devoted helper of the poor. 



The Ass is exceedingly common in all parts of Europe, and many 

 stories of its cunning are told. It can open gates and doors which baffle 

 all the efforts of the horse, and has been known even to fasten them after 

 it passed through. An Ass, attacked by a bull-dog, seized it in his teeth, 

 carried it to a river, and then lay down on it. 



Another Ass displayed a singular discrimination of palate, being 



celebrated for his love of good ale. At one roadside 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 



57 



