TEB DONKBT. 



barrow, or titter a mTisicail bray, I am rewarded with a whack oi 

 the ribs, in the first ease, for being TJcious, and in the second — • 

 the ignorant hmte that my master is — ^for calling down rain 

 with the malicious intention of spoiling his day's trading. As 

 we bowl along to market, if I put my best leg foremost, think- 

 ing thus to please him, he directly lays into my sides might and 

 main, that his fellow donkey-drivers on the road may think, 

 that, tidy as my present pace is, it is nothing to what I can 

 do if I like, and it is because I don't like that he is flogging 

 me. If I run as fast as I can I am thrashed ; if I saunter I 

 am thrashed ; therefore, as it is easier to saunter than to run, 

 let him whack his hardest while I saunter." 



Dozens of stories might be told of the ass's sagacity. What 

 does the reader think of the following (related by the Eer. 

 J. Gr. Wood) as the performance of a " silly " creature ? 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 all the store of oats had suddenly vanished from the out- 

 house without 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 conduct afforded a clue to the disappearance of the oats; 

 and, upon a careful search bdng made, his footmarks were 

 traced along the path to the rabbit-house, and even along the 

 ground among the hutches. It was very clear that the ingemoUs 

 animal must have unlatched his own gate, unfastened the hasp 

 of the rabbit-house, finished aU the oats, and have returned as 

 he went, refastening 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. 



Another donkey, belongir^ to one of Mr. Wood's friends, was 

 permitted to walk at large in the gardto, 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* 

 step^ which were deeply imprinted in the soft mould. After 

 a while the animal seemed to have reflected upon the ciroum* 

 stance which led to the discovery of hia offence, and the next 

 time that he walked upon the flower-beds he scraped the earth 

 over his footmarks, and endeavoured to obliterate the traces of 

 his disobedience. 



In Eastern countries the ass was always much more com- 



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