The donkey...

Long Long ago. A washer man once lived in a village. This washer man owned a donkey. Every single day, the washer man would routinely load his bundle of clothes on the donkey’s back and would make him cross the river.

Though the washer man very nice to the donkey. He used to give food to the donkey regularly. Even though the donkey grew fed up of this taxing daily grind of carrying the load. He started exploring of a way out of this, such that he could possibly escape from the washer man’s Custody.

Many days passed by. One night the donkey was left tied up in the backyard of the washer man’s house. Unexpectedly, to the pleasant surprise of the donkey, he realized that the washer man had apparently forgotten to tie him up that day.

The donkey was thrilled to bits. He looked around slyly. It was the dead of night with a pin drop silence, except for the distant chirp of the crickets. Oblivious to all this, the washer man was snoring inside the hut.

The donkey that had been looking for such an opportune moment, slipped out slowly through the courtyard, and once outside trotted away to freedom with lightning speed.

Sprinting away, when he had reached a considerable distance, he stopped and settled down to relax. And soon he dozed off. However, no sooner had he done so, he was rudely woken up. He felt as if someone had sharply struck in his ribs. He got up in haste. He feared that the washer man had caught up with him. Instead he saw two burly thieves holding a huge bundle of stolen goods. One of them dumped the bundle on his back and flogged him along with a stick. The donkey was now feeling sorry for himself. But then what could he do now?

After traveling for a long time, the donkey felt very hungry. He was hoping that the thieves would feed him, but as soon as they reached their destination, they shooed him away. Now the donkey was feeling miserable and hurt.

Over the next few days, his situation had become unenviable. Just about anyone would exploit him and make him carry their burden. Yet, while some threw some food in front of him, most would simply hit him with sticks in return of his service.

The donkey was now in a dilemma. He mused and mulled over it for a long time, and then ultimately decided to return to the washer man.