The farmer, the son and the donkey

When I was a child, my mom had a gift for telling fascinating stories. She was incredible when she played the characters with different voices and different intonations. I was blown away by all the tales she knew.

She was very much inspired by Jean de Lafontaine, who often took his inspiration from ancient Greco-Latin times.

He had a brilliant way of manipulating words, and after each tale he was able to leave a very subtle moral behind. Perhaps I should have waited until I was an adult to hear the tale of the farmer, the son and the donkey afterwards.

On a hot summer's day, a farmer, his son and their donkey were heading for the village.    

They walked side by side, followed by their donkey. When they reached the market square, some of the merchants whispered:

- Look how ridiculous they are for walking instead of using the donkey.

Hearing these judgments, the farmer took his son and put him on the donkey's. Some foul mouths cried out:

- Look at this ungrateful child sitting on the donkey's, letting his old father walk. What a sad scene, watching a lazy youngster like that!

The child jumped off, after which it was the farmer's turn to get on. Soon, some women noticed the whole scene, and one of them exclaimed:

- Look at this unkind man, riding so fast on the donkey's that his child can barely follow him. Isn't it disgusting to force his son to go walking in such conditions!

As soon as the farmer invited his son to climb on the donkey too, other merchants cried out:

- What cruelty to torture this poor animal! Have they no human morality?

The farmer and his son put the donkey on their shoulders and headed back to their house, creating laughter throughout the village!

No matter what we do in life, there will always be those who criticize and make unpleasant comments. The more we stay authentic to who we are, the easier it will be to find our way. We can't please everyone, so we might as well please ourselves!