An old man and his grandson, Rahul, headed for the market. On the way, a stray donkey joined them. Rahul patted the donkey and the old man gave it a radish. The donkey munched the radish, which he liked. He took a liking to his newly-found friends and started following them. Rahul named the donkey Huliya.
They met a village elder on their way. He too was going to market. “What’s the point of having a donkey if you don’t make use of it? You should have the sense to make use of what’s been given to you.” said the village elder, who was a pompous man.
The old man bowed to the pompous man and asked his grandson to mount the donkey.
“Huliya, can I have a ride on you?” Rahul asked.
The donkey nodded his head and so Rahul mounted the donkey. The old man walked by its side.
The pompous man who was walking along side frowned at Rahul. “You sit on the donkey while your grandpa walks. You should have the sense to respect your elders,” he said angrily.
Rahul bowed to the pompous man and got off the donkey, “Huliya, please give a ride to grandpa.” The donkey nodded his head.
Now, the old man rode on the donkey and his grandson Rahul walked by the side. The pompous man was still not satisfied. “You sit on that donkey while I walk?” he rebuked the old man, “You should have the sense to offer your seat to respected people of the village.”
The old man bowed to the pompous man and got off the donkey and said, “I’m sorry, we made a learned person like you to walk. You deserve to take the ride, Sir.”
The pompous man was happy to hear these words.
“All right, if you insist,” he said and sat on the donkey. But he was not happy with the donkey. “This animal is too slow. Make him run,” he complained.
Rahul patted the donkey and said, “Run Huliya, run.”
The donkey took off like a race horse. The pompous man got scared and started screaming. They came to a narrow bridge across a stream. As the donkey ran, the pompous man lost his balance and fell into the stream. The donkey continued to run and disappeared from sight.
The old man and his grandson bowed to the pompous man struggling in the stream. “Sir, perhaps you should have had the sense not to make a donkey run,” the old man said before walking away.
(Adapted from an old Aesop’s fable)
