The Ox and the Donkey
Also known as Bail aur Gadha
- 3 minute read
- Ages 7-11
- Alif Laila Stories
This is the story Scheherazade's father told her, on the night she said she wanted to marry the King. He told it to talk her out of it. It did not work.
The two animals
A merchant had the gift of understanding the speech of animals, on one condition: if he ever repeated anything he heard, he would die. So he never told anyone he could do it.
In his stable he kept an ox and a donkey.
The ox worked. He went out to the plough at dawn and came back at dusk and was too tired to eat, every day.
The donkey did almost nothing. He was ridden into town occasionally and otherwise stood in the stable with clean straw and good barley.
One evening the ox complained about this at some length, and the donkey, who had heard it before, offered advice.
The advice
"Do not eat tomorrow," said the donkey. "Leave your food. Lie down and do not get up. If they push you, groan. They will think you are ill and they will not work you, and you will get a day in the stable like mine."
The ox thought this was excellent.
The merchant, lying awake in the next room, heard the whole conversation and said nothing.
The next day
The ox did exactly as instructed. He left his barley, lay in the straw and groaned when touched.
The ploughman came to the merchant and said the ox was sick and could not work.
"Then take the donkey," said the merchant.
The donkey was put in the yoke at dawn and worked the whole field until dark, and came back barely able to stand, with his shoulders raw where the yoke had rubbed.
The ox was extremely pleased with him and said so.
The second piece of advice
The donkey lay in the straw and thought about his position, and then he spoke.
"I heard something today," he said. "The master told the ploughman that if you are still sick tomorrow, he will send for the butcher, because a sick ox is no use to anybody and at least the meat is worth something."
The ox got up.
He ate everything in front of him and then most of the donkey's, and in the morning he ran to the plough with his head up, bellowing, and worked like an animal delighted to be alive.
The point
Scheherazade's father stopped there and looked at his daughter.
"You are the ox," he said. "You are about to take advice that sounds clever and walk into something that will kill you. Do not go to the palace."
Scheherazade thought about it.
"Father," she said, "I have been listening carefully. The donkey gave good advice and it worked perfectly. The trouble started when he had to live with what it cost him."
And she went to the palace anyway.
Moral of the story
Advice that costs the adviser nothing is worth checking twice. The donkey was right, and then he was standing in the yoke.
Questions and answers
- What gift did the merchant have?
He could understand the speech of animals, but would die if he ever repeated anything he heard.
- Why did the ox complain?
He ploughed all day every day while the donkey stood in the stable with clean straw and good barley.
- What did the donkey advise?
To refuse his food, lie down and groan, so his owners would think he was ill and not work him.
- What went wrong for the donkey?
The merchant sent the donkey to the plough instead, and he worked all day until his shoulders were raw.
- How did the donkey get out of it?
He told the ox that the master planned to send for the butcher if the ox stayed sick, so the ox went back to work at once.
Word meanings
- plough
- A tool pulled by animals to turn over soil for planting.
- yoke
- A wooden frame joining animals together to pull a plough.
- barley
- A grain used as animal feed.
- bellowing
- Making a deep loud sound, as cattle do.
Questions about The Ox and the Donkey
Where does this story appear in Alif Laila?
In the frame story. Scheherazade's father, the vizier, tells it to persuade her not to marry the King.
What is the moral of The Ox and the Donkey?
That advice which costs the person giving it nothing should be examined carefully. The donkey's plan worked, and then he had to do the ploughing.
Why does the story not persuade Scheherazade?
She reads it differently from her father. He sees a warning about bad advice; she notices that the advice worked, and that the problem was the consequences, which she has already accepted.
Is this a fable or part of the main story?
Both. It is a self-contained animal fable told inside the frame, which is the structure the whole collection uses.