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Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)

4. THE ONAGER, THE DONKEY AND THE DRIVER
Perry 183 (Chambry 264)

An onager saw a donkey standing in the sunshine. The onager approached the donkey and congratulated him on his good physical condition and excellent diet. Later on, the onager saw that same donkey bearing a load on his back and being harried by a driver who was beating the donkey from behind with a club. The onager then declared, 'Well, I am certainly not going to admire your good fortune any longer, seeing as you pay such a high price for your prosperity!'

Note: The onager, or wild ass, once roamed the plains of central Asia. The word onager is from the Greek onos, 'donkey', and agros, 'field'.


Source: Aesop's Fables. A new translation by Laura Gibbs. Oxford University Press (World's Classics): Oxford, 2002.
NOTE: New cover, with new ISBN, published in 2008; contents of book unchanged.