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Prev Fables
Group Four
31 A man argues
32 The deer misjudges
33 The dying farmer
34 The baby goat
35 The pigeons choose
36 The big trees
37 A mean dog
38 The selfish horse
39 A boy cries wolf
40 The fox outwits the crow
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38. The Selfish Horse Gets an Extra Load
There once was a farm where a donkey and horse
Had stalls in the barn side by
side,
Now the donkey's was dingy and tiny and dark
But the horse's was sunny and
wide.
One day on the road when poor Donkey was ill
And was feeling already half
dead,
He gently asked Horse to take some of his load
Or this burden will kill me,
he said.
O, bunk,
said Horse,
I'm a racer supreme,
And you donkeys are born with
strong backs!
So he pranced up ahead where the master could see,
But poor Donkey fell dead in
his tracks.
So the master removed the poor Donkey's load
And put it on Horse that day,
Then added the corpse of the Donkey to boot
Before quickly resuming their
way.
And the Horse staggered on but he groaned in his heart
What a fool I have been! What a jerk!
By refusing to offer to help with the task
I end up with TWICE as much
work.
MORAL: Do your part generously, and you'll avoid worse burdens.
from the book Prayers and Fables and the forthcoming book Aesop's Best: 80 Fables in Verse by William Cleary
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