The Musical Donkey
Vishnu Sharma | India
A donkey sneaks into a field to eat crops with a jackal, but his singing alerts the villagers, resulting in a severe beating.
Once upon a time, there was a washerman who had a thin donkey. The donkey worked hard every day, carrying clothes to the river. But the donkey wasn’t happy with the food he got, so at night, he would sneak into nearby fields to eat crops.
One night, in the field, the donkey met a jackal, and they became friends. Together, they went looking for food and found a field full of watermelons. They enjoyed the tasty watermelons and decided to return every night to eat more.
One day, after eating, the donkey felt so happy that he wanted to sing. The jackal warned him, "If you sing, the villagers will hear you and come to beat us! You should keep quiet." But the donkey didn’t listen and insisted on singing.
The jackal realized the donkey wouldn’t stop, so he quickly ran away to hide in the bushes, far from the field. The donkey stayed behind and started singing loudly.
As soon as the villagers heard the donkey’s loud song, they rushed to the field. They found the donkey and beat him badly with sticks. Hurt and unable to move, the donkey finally dragged himself back to the jackal. The jackal came out of hiding and said, "I warned you not to sing, but you didn’t listen."
The donkey felt sorry and realized he should have listened to his friend's advice.
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