Aesop's Fables: Townsend (1867)
283. The Miller, His Son, and Their Ass (Perry)
A MILLER and his son were driving their Ass to a neighboring fair to
sell him. They had not gone far when they met with a troop of women collected
round a well, talking and laughing. 'Look there,' cried one of them, 'did
you ever see such fellows, to be trudging along the road on foot when
they might ride?' The old man hearing this, quickly made his son mount
the Ass, and continued to walk along merrily by his side. Presently they
came up to a group of old men in earnest debate. 'There,' said one of
them, 'it proves what I was a-saying. What respect is shown to old age
in these days? Do you see that idle lad riding while his old father has
to walk? Get down, you young scapegrace, and let the old man rest his
weary limbs.' Upon this the old man made his son dismount, and got up
himself. In this manner they had not proceeded far when they met a company
of women and children: 'Why, you lazy old fellow,' cried several tongues
at once, 'how can you ride upon the beast, while that poor little lad
there can hardly keep pace by the side of you?' The good-natured Miller
immediately took up his son behind him. They had now almost reached the
town. 'Pray, honest friend,' said a citizen, 'is that Ass your own?' 'Yes,'
replied the old man. 'O, one would not have thought so,' said the other,
'by the way you load him. Why, you two fellows are better able to carry
the poor beast than he you.' 'Anything to please you,' said the old man;
'we can but try.' So, alighting with his son, they tied the legs of the
Ass together and with the help of a pole endeavored to carry him on their
shoulders over a bridge near the entrance to the town. This entertaining
sight brought the people in crowds to laugh at it, till the Ass, not liking
the noise nor the strange handling that he was subject to, broke the cords
that bound him and, tumbling off the pole, fell into the river. Upon this,
the old man, vexed and ashamed, made the best of his way home again, convinced
that by endeavoring to please everybody he had pleased nobody, and lost
his Ass in the bargain.
George Fyler Townsend's translation of the fables, first published in 1867, is
in the public domain and can be found at many websites, including Project
Gutenberg.
Illustrations come from: Aesop's Fables, by George Fyler Townsend, with
illustrations by Harrison Weir, 1867, at Google
Books. |