Use All Your Strength

A young boy and his father were walking along a forest road. At some point, they came across a large tree branch on the ground in front of them. The boy asked his father, “If I try, do you think I could move that branch?” His father replied, “I am sure you can if you use all your strength.” The boy tried his best to lift or push the branch, but he was not strong enough, and he couldn't move it. He said, with disappointment, “You were wrong, Dad. I can't move it.” “Try again,” replied his father. Again, the boy tried hard to push the branch. He struggled, but it did not move. “Dad, I cannot do it,” said the boy. Finally, his father said, “Son, I advised you to use all your strength. You didn’t. I am here with you, but still, you didn’t ask for my help. Then, with the help of his father, the boy was able to move that branch aside.

Moral: We haven’t used all our strength until we have recognized and appreciated the strength and support of those who love and surround us and care about our purpose. To ask for Help and support when we need is not a Sign of Weakness, it is a Sign of Wisdom. It is a Call for Greater Strength that Lives in our Togetherness.

What is Compassion?

Once a young student came to his master and asked him, “Master, what is Compassion?”Master took him to the window and asked him to look at the beggar sitting on the corner across the street. While looking at him for some time, they saw that an old lady passed by and gave him a gold coin, a merchant passed by and gave him five gold coins, and a boy who passed by gave him a flower.

Now, master asked his student, “Which one of all these actions do you think felt the most compassion for the beggar?”

The young student replied, “The merchant did. He gave him the most money.”

The Master smiled and explained, “Remember that old lady that passed by? She was infuriated by his poverty, so she gave him a gold coin. The old lady acted out of pity toward that beggar.

After that, we saw a merchant who noticed a small group of people talking about him, so he gave 5 gold coins to the beggar and left quickly. The merchant acted out of ego. He wanted to show oL his wealth to those people and show that he had a big heart and liked to help others.

Later we saw a boy who had collected some flowers in his hands for his mother and when he passed by that beggar, he smiled at him and gave him a flower. That little boy is the one who acted out of compassion”

Master continued and explained, “Compassion is far greater and nobler than pity. Pity has its roots in fear. When fear touches someone’s pain it becomes pity But when love touches someone’s pain it becomes compassion. So to understand compassion we should understand that all beings are the same and suLer in a similar way. We should honor all who suLer and know that we are neither separate nor superior to anyone. “

How Many Crows In The Kingdom?

“Emperor Akbar had a habit of offering riddles and puzzles to his courtiers. He often asked questions that were strange and witty. It took much wisdom to answer these questions. Once he asked a very strange question. The courtiers looked dumbfounded.

As King Akbar looked around the room, one by one the courier's heads began to hang low in search of an answer. It was at this moment that Birbal entered the courtyard. Birbal who knew the nature of the emperor quickly grasped the situation and asked, “May I know the question so that I can try for an answer”.

King Akbar said, “How many crows are there in this city?”

Without even a moment’s thought, Birbal replied “There are fifty-thousand-five hundred and eighty-nine crows, my lord”.

“How can you be so sure?” asked the king.

Birbal replied, “Make you men count, My lord. If you find more crows it means some have come to visit their relatives here. If you find less number of crows it means some have gone to visit their relatives elsewhere”.

King Akbar began to laugh and was very pleased by Birbal’s wit.

Moral : Even if the question is silly, you can manage the situation by thinking on your feet and giving a witty answer.

Changing Our Vision

Once, there was a very wealthy man who was suffering from severe eye pain. He consulted many physicians and was being treated by several.  He consumed lots of drugs and underwent hundreds of injections. But the ache persisted and, in fact, was getting worse.

At last, a monk who was supposed to be an expert in treating such patients was called for by the suffering man. The monk understood his problem and said that he should concentrate only on the color green for a month.  He should not let his eyes fall on any other colors. It was a strange prescription, but he was desperate and decided to try it.

The millionaire gathered a group of painters and purchased barrels of green paint. He directed that every object his eye was likely to see should be painted green, just as the monk had directed. When the monk came to visit him after a few days, following their orders, the man’s servants ran with buckets of green paint and poured it on the monk, who was dressed in his red robes., 

The monk just laughed and said, "If only you had purchased a pair of green-tinted eyeglasses worth just a few dollars, you could have saved these walls and trees and pots and everything around you, as well as a large share of your fortune. 

Moral of the story:  You cannot paint the world green.  Change YOUR vision, and the world will appear accordingly. 

What Love Means

A 9-year-old girl walks into a jewelry store. She looks around and points at a $3000 bracelet, and says I want that one. She says she's going to buy it for her older sister. The store owner says that's very nice of you.  Why do you want to give it to her? She says that because I don't have a mother or father, and she takes care of us.  The girl opens up her backpack and dumps out hundreds of coins onto the counter, mostly nickels, dimes, and pennies, and says this is my life savings. The man looks at the coins, looks at the bracelet, and starts tearing up.  He looks at her and says that is exactly what it costs. He wraps up the bracelet, hands it to her, and says, take this to your sister.  A few hours later, the sister comes in, and she says I am so embarrassed.

I can't believe my sister took this without paying, and the store owner says she did pay for it.  She paid in full.  He then explains that I'm alone in life. My wife passed on, and my kids moved away. Your sister walked in here with her bag of coins, and for the first time in years, I felt what love means. You take this bracelet because you deserve it. There is no force on earth more powerful than love. Let it guide what you do every day, and good things will come. 

Bullying

Bullying

One day a bus driver was driving his regular route. Usually, the bus driver never had any problem with his passengers, but this day will be different and change his life forever. At the first couple of stops everything was, as usual, a few people got on, and a few got off. At one of the last stops, however, a big hulk of a guy got on. Six feet eight, built like a wrestler, arms hanging down to the ground. He glared at the driver and said, “Big John doesn’t need to pay!” and sat down at the back. The driver was so shocked that he just sat there speechless and intimidated

The bus driver was only five feet three, thin, and without any self-defense skills. He knew it wasn’t smart to argue with Big John, but he also wasn’t happy about the whole situation. The next day the same thing happened. Big John got on again, made a show of refusing to pay, and sat down. And the next day, and the one after that. This really bothered the bus driver, who started losing sleep over the way Big John was taking advantage of him. Finally, he couldn’t stand it any longer. He decided to stand up to this bully, so he signed up for body building courses, karate, judo, and all that good stuff. While training the bus driver told everyone what has happened to him, how unfair everything was, and how he was going to keep practicing so one day, he could stand up to that bully.

After almost a year of hard training in the gym and at different martial art studios, the bus driver had become quite strong and he felt really good about himself. So he decided that the next day Big John tries to pull his trick he will confront him. The day finally came when Big John once again got on the bus and said, “Big John doesn’t pay!” But this time the driver stood up, glared back at the passenger, and screamed, “And why not?  With a surprised look on his face, Big John replied, “Big John has a bus pass, so like Big John said many times… Big John doesn’t pay.” The bus driver apologized to Big John for screaming at him sat down and took a couple of minutes to think over what he had put himself through over the past year and how all of it could have been avoided if he would have just asked Big John the very first day why he doesn’t have to pay. At the end of the day when the bus driver got back to the martial art studio, his mentor asked him, “So did you stand up to the bully this time?” The bus driver told his mentor what had happened and how wrong he was from the start. His mentor calmly said, “Sometimes there is no bad guy only miscommunication.”

Moral:  If you find yourself in a confrontation make sure that you know all the facts before you start making some big revenge plans.

The Cycle of Evil

There once was a king who was so cruel and unjust that his subjects yearned for his death or dethronement. However, one day, he surprised them all by announcing that he had decided to turn over a new leaf.

“No more cruelty, no more injustice,” he promised, and he was as good as his word. He became known as the ‘Gentle Monarch’. Months after his transformation, one of his ministers got the courage to ask him what had brought about his change of heart.

And the king answered, “As I was galloping through my forests, I caught sight of a fox being chased by a hound. The fox escaped into his hole, but not before the hound had bitten into its leg and lamed it for life. Later, I rode into a village and saw the same hound there. It was barking at a man. Even as I watched, the man picked up a huge stone and flung it at the dog, breaking its leg. The man had not gone far when he was kicked by a horse. His knee was shattered, and he fell to the ground, disabled for life. The horse began to run, but it fell into a hole and broke its leg. Reflecting on all that had happened, I thought: ‘Evil begets evil. If I continue in my evil ways, I will surely be overtaken by evil’. So I decided to change”.

The minister went away, convinced that the time was ripe to overthrow the king and seize the throne. Immersed in thought, he did not see the steps in front of him and fell, breaking his neck.

Moral: The cycle of deeds always gives us back what we give to others. If we do good to others, our good will happen; if we do bad to others, our turn will also come.

The Two Horses

Just up the road from my home is a field with two horses in it. From a distance, each horse looks like any other horse.

But if you look closer, you will notice something quite interesting...

One of the horses is blind.

His owner has chosen not to have him put down but has made him a safe and comfortable barn to live in.  This alone is amazing.  But if you stand nearby and listen, you will hear the sound of a bell. It is coming from a smaller horse in the field.

Attached to the horse's halter is a small, copper-colored bell. It lets the blind friend know where the other horse is so he can follow. As you stand and watch these two friends, you'll see that the horse with the bell is always checking on the blind horse. The blind horse will listen for the bell and then slowly walk to where the other horse is, trusting he will not be led astray.

When the horse with the bell returns to the shelter of the barn each evening, he will stop occasionally to look back, making sure that the blind friend isn't too far behind to hear the bell.

Moral:  Like the owners of these two horses, divine source does not discard us just because we are imperfect or have problems or challenges.  God watches over us and even brings others into our lives to help us when we are in need. Sometimes, we are the blind horse, being guided by the little ringing bell of those who divine source places in our lives. And at other times we are the guide horse, helping others to find their way.

The Power of Words

Two girls got on a bus and they started talking to each other.

“Did you hear that Sarah got engaged yesterday?” 

“No, I never knew that!  That’s amazing!!”

“But she is so sloppy and unorganized! How is she going to run a household?”

“I know, said the other girl, she’s never on time. And remember the one time she cooked for us? Her food was terrible! Her new husband is going to starve!!”

“I heard she spends money faster than she receives it. How will she get through the month?”

So it went, on and on and on. Behind the two girls was another lady who suddenly spoke up.

“I am sorry to interrupt you girls but I wanted to introduce myself. My son just got engaged to Sarah. Now that I know this information, I will tell my son everything that you said about Sarah and he must break off the engagement immediately. I will also tell all my friends how grateful I am to you girls for letting me know what Sarah is really like”.

The girls were shocked. They started to stutter and struggled to find the right words.

 “No, No” they pleaded. Please do not let your son break the engagement.”

 “Sarah is wonderful! She will make a great mother! She really will!”

“She is so warm, friendly and caring”.

“We were just talking. We never meant her any harm”. “Please don’t break the engagement”.

 However, the woman was adamant.

“Thank you, but based on what you said, I will make every effort to break it up as soon as possible. The girl you described sounds like a terrible person. I will inform my son immediately.”

The girls were horrified and crushed. After a short silence, the lady turned around to the girls and said “I am not the boy’s mother, but imagine if I was?”

“Do you know the damage you could have caused to this couple? You almost destroyed a potential family just because you had nothing else to talk about?”

“Words either build or destroy, use them wisely” the woman said sternly and with that she got off the bus.

Moral:  This story should be a wake up call for all of us.  It’s  so easy to talk all the time without any awareness of the power of our words. 

The King’s Successor

There was once a great king who was renowned for his wisdom and intelligence. He decided it was time to retire, so he spread the word across his kingdom that he would soon appoint a new successor to his throne. The king was considered to be the wisest to have come to power. His clever policies helped to build a just and content nation during his rule. 

The king called the nation's youth together and gathered them in the royal hall. The king gave each of them a seed and said, “This is a very special seed. I want all of you to plant it, take care of it and return after a year with what you have. Based on what you bring back, I will decide who will be the country's next king.  Everyone left and excitedly planted their seed and waited for it to grow. As the months passed by, the youth of the country were talking about how their plant had grown tremendously beautiful. Among all the youth was a young man whose seed hadn’t sprouted. Although he used to water the seed every day and do everything to make it grow, the seed would grow. 

A year had passed from the day the seed was distributed. All the youth were summoned to the palace, where they were to display the outcome of their seeds. The young man, whose seed did not grow, was very reluctant even to attend the gathering, but he went to the palace anyway with his pot of soil.  In the gathering, he was amazed to see the variety of beautiful plants others had grown. The young man put his empty pot on the floor while a number of the others were laughing at him as he did so. The young man was embarrassed to be there.

The king arrived in the hall and inspected each and every pot. The young man was hiding in the back, trying to go unseen, but the king found him and paused when he did. Walking over, he eyed the young man and his plant closely but said nothing. He ordered his guards to bring the young man to the front of the room.  The young man was very sad as the king had noticed his utter failure to grow a seed. Arriving at the front, the guards let go of him, leaving him standing alone before all the others, many of whom were snickering and pointing. The king called the young man closer. He raised his hand and roared, “Behold, everyone, your new king!”

The king said, “One year ago, I gave everyone a seed. I instructed you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back. You were unaware that every seed I handed out had been boiled beforehand so that none of them were fit to grow! After a year, all of you have brought me trees, plants, and flowers, born of your dishonesty. The seeds which grew these plants were not the ones I provided you. Therefore, look upon the only honest one among you, this young man, and know now why he deserves to be your ruler.”

Moral: This sounds like a test we should impose here and now on politicians and all public servants.

Hole In The Boat

A man was asked to paint a boat. He brought his paint and brushes and began to paint the boat a bright red, as the owner asked him.  While painting, he noticed a small hole in the hull and quietly repaired it.  When he finished painting, he received his money and left.  The next day, the owner of the boat came to the painter and presented him with a nice check, much higher than the payment for the painting.  The painter was surprised and said, “You’ve already paid me for painting the boat Sir!”  But this is not for the paint job. It’s for repairing the hole in the boat.”\  “Ah! But it was such a small service… certainly, it’s not worth paying me such a high amount for something so insignificant.”

“My dear friend, you do not understand. Let me tell you what happened: “When I asked you to paint the boat, I forgot to mention the hole.  “When the boat dried, my kids took the boat and went on a fishing trip.  “They did not know that there was a hole. I was not at home at that time.  “When I returned and noticed they had taken the boat, I was desperate because I remembered that the boat had a hole.  “Imagine my relief and joy when I saw them returning from fishing.  “Then, I examined the boat and found that you had repaired the hole!  “You see, now, what you did? You saved the life of my children! I do not have enough money to pay your ‘small’ good deed.”

Moral:  No matter who, when, or how, continue to help, listen attentively, and carefully repair all the ‘leaks’ you find in life. We never know when someone is in need of us or when the universe holds a pleasant surprise for us to be helpful and important to someone.  Along the way, you may have repaired numerous ‘boat holes’ for several people without realizing how many lives you’ve saved. 

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Gifts From the Heart

According to legend, a young man roaming the desert came across a spring of delicious, crystal-clear water. The water was so sweet that he filled his leather canteen so he could bring some back to a tribal elder who had been his teacher. After a four-day journey, he presented the water to the old man, who took a deep drink, smiled warmly, and thanked his student lavishly for the sweet water. The young man returned to his village with a happy heart.

Later, the teacher let another student taste the water. He spat it out, saying it was awful. It apparently had become stale because of the old leather container. The student challenged his teacher: "Master, the water was foul. Why did you pretend to like it?” The teacher replied, "You only tasted the water. I tasted the gift. The water was simply the container for an act of loving-kindness, and nothing could be sweeter."

Moral: We understand this lesson best when we receive innocent gifts of love from young children. Whether it's a ceramic tray or a macaroni bracelet, the natural and proper response is appreciation and gratitude because we love the idea within the gift. But gratitude doesn't always come naturally. Unfortunately, most children and many adults value only the thing given rather than the feeling embodied in it. We should remind ourselves (and teach our children) about the beauty of pure feelings and expressions of gratitude. After all, gifts FROM the heart are really gifts OF the heart.

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Not Worthless

One day, a fish was swimming near a river bank and heard a voice say, “How is the water?” The fish raised her head to see a monkey sitting on a tree. The fish smiled and replied,” The water is nice and warm.” The monkey felt a little jealous and wanted to make the fish feel bad. He said,” You should come out of the water and climb up this tree. The view is amazing.” The fish felt sad. She said, “I don’t know how to climb a tree, and I can’t survive without water. Seeing the fish’s sad face, the monkey made fun of the fish, telling her you are worthless if she cannot even climb a tree. After hearing this, the fish started thinking about this day and night and became depressed. She started thinking to herself, “Maybe the monkey is right. I am worthless if I cannot even climb a tree.” Another fish in the river noticed the fish looked so sad and asked her why she was so depressed. The fish told her everything the monkey said. The other fish said, If the monkey thinks you are worthless because you can’t climb a tree, then the monkey is worthless as well because it can’t swim or live underwater. Hearing this, the fish realized how gifted she was and how wrong it was for her to think of herself as worthless. A few days later, the monkey slipped and fell into the water and drowned because it didn’t know how to swim.

Moral: People tend to think of themselves based on the judgment of others. We should focus on and try to be the best at what we are capable of doing. The way to realize our true potential is to become self-aware. Albert Einstein once said, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.

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My Silent Partner (July 2012)

I decided that I really needed to get away.  I was feeling a bit disconnected and overwhelmed at work.  Since everyone was gone, I had to take Duke, my dog.  No one was home to care for him.  Before I left, I thought about not taking Duke.  He is turning 13 this year, and he probably won’t be able to keep up with what I want to do.  I thought to just leave him with the woman who grooms him.  I kept thinking, if I take him, it’s going to be different. His energy will pull me. I will have to take care of him.  Keep him from chasing squirrels and other small animals.  Make sure he doesn’t leave the trail. I would not be able to hike some of the harder trails.


Then I heard my inner voice say… One day, you will be old.  You will not want to be left behind. You would want to go. Do you want a loved one to leave you behind because you can’t keep up?  That’s when I decided to take him.  As we hiked together the first day, I could see him panting and struggling a bit.  He was so tired. But he made it.  We did a nice walk after that around Ship Harbor.  I had never done it.  It was very meditative.  That night, we went to the top of Cadillac Mountain for sunset.

I could smell the air, I could feel the wind and sun, I could hear the ocean, and then I could not hear, see or smell yet I could feel all of them deep inside me all at once and I felt this huge love and compassion for everyone and everything.  When I felt that, Duke came over to me and put his head on my chest.  And I saw the bigger picture.  My decision to take him opened my heart, my love and compassion for him, and everything around me felt like love too.  My love and inner joy.  The next day we hiked another mountain and he did a little better.  We then meditated by the sea and Duke laid down next to me on the rocks and seaweed and seemed to be meditating too. On our last day, we walked 5 miles around Jordan Pond, and it was just amazing at 7 am.  So quiet and beautiful.  As we walked, I did have to be aware of how he was doing, but otherwise, he was my silent partner.  He never spoke to me.  We just wandered around together and spoke with energy, no words.  He ended up being the perfect companion for this trip.  On our way home, he slept the whole way.  I just smiled and had an enormous appreciation for my friend.  I suspect he felt the same way, not being left behind.

Moral:  Ask your heart, and you will find what you need to get from this.

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The Father, Son, and the Crow

An 80-year-old man was sitting on the sofa in his house along with his 45-year-old highly educated son. Suddenly, a crow perched on their window.  The Father asked his Son, “What is that?” The Son replied, “It is a crow”. After a few minutes, the Father asked his Son the 2nd time,  “What is that?” The Son said, “Father, I have just told you “It’s a crow.” After a little while, the old Father again asked his Son the 3rd time, “What is that?”

This time the son was totally irritated and yelled out, “It’s a crow, a crow”. A few minutes later, the Father asked his Son for the 4th time, “What is that?”  This time, the Son shouted at his Father, “Why do you keep asking me the same question again and again, although I have told you so many times ‘IT IS A CROW.’ Are you not able to understand this?”

A little later, the Father went to his room and came back with an old, tattered diary, which he had maintained since his Son was born. On opening a page, he asked his Son to read that page. When the son read it, the following words were written in the diary.

“Today, my little son, aged three, was sitting with me on the sofa when a crow was sitting on the window. My Son asked me 23 times what it was, and I told him all 23 times that it was a Crow. I hugged him lovingly each time he asked me the same question, again and again,  23 times. I did not at all feel irritated. I felt affection for my innocent child”.

Moral of the story:  Always remember the unconditional love that our parents gave us when we were young. With that, let’s be gentle and patient with their shortcomings and flaws. If they call you when you are busy, it means they are thinking of you. Work is important and you are always busy, but bear in mind when you leave an organization, no one probably misses your presence. But when your parents are not around anymore, you will miss them forever.

A Wise Judge’s Sentence

A farmer in ancient China had a neighbor who was a hunter and who owned ferocious and poorly trained hunting dogs. The dogs frequently jumped over the fence and chased the farmer's lambs. The farmer asked his neighbor to keep his dogs in check, but this fell on deaf ears. One day, the dogs again jumped the fence, attacked, and severely injured several of the lambs. The farmer had had enough and went to town to consult a judge who listened carefully to the story and said:

"I could punish the hunter and instruct him to keep his dogs chained or lock them up. But you would lose a friend and gain an enemy. Which would you rather have, friend or foe, for a neighbor? “The farmer replied that he preferred a friend. “All right, I will offer you a solution that keeps your lambs safe and which will keep your neighbor a friend.” Having heard the judge's solution, the farmer agreed.

Once at home, the farmer immediately tested the judge's suggestions. He took three of his best lambs and presented them to his neighbor's three small sons, who were beside themselves with joy and began to play with them. The hunter built a strong kennel for his dogs to protect his son's newly acquired playthings. Since then, the dogs have never again bothered the farmer's lambs.

Out of gratitude for the farmer's generosity toward his sons, the hunter often shared the game he had hunted with the farmer. The farmer reciprocated by sending the hunter the cheese he had made. Within a short time, the neighbors became good friends.

Moral: “One can win over and influence people with gestures of kindness and compassion.”

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The Missing Watch

There once was a farmer who discovered he had lost his watch in the barn. This was no ordinary watch.  It had sentimental value for him.  After searching high and low among the hay for a long while, he gave up and enlisted the help of a group of children playing outside the barn.

He promised them that the person who found it would be rewarded.

Hearing this, the children hurried inside the barn, went through and around the entire stack of hay but still could not find the watch. Just when the farmer was about to give up looking for his watch, a little boy came up to him and asked to be given another chance.

The farmer looked at him and thought, “Why not? After all, this kid looks sincere enough.”

So the farmer sent the little boy back in the barn. After a while the little boy came out with the watch in his hand! The farmer was both happy and surprised and so he asked the boy how he succeeded where the rest had failed.

The boy replied, “I did nothing but sit on the ground and listen. In the silence, I heard the ticking of the watch and just looked for it in that direction.”

Moral:  A peaceful mind can think better than a worked up mind. Allow a few minutes of silence to your mind every day, and see how it helps change your life.

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Anger Story

Once, a man named Mohan lived in a tiny village.  In this village, there was only one tailor.  His name was Mohan.  He used to stitch the villagers' clothes and earn a good income.  As days passed, he became arrogant and rude to the customers.  When some villagers told him he did not do the work right, he got angry and told them to get out of his shop.  His ego was growing way too big, but the villagers couldn’t do anything because he was the only tailor who knew how to stitch.

One day, a lady and her son came to the village for work.  She knew how to stitch, so she went to Mohan asking for a job working for him.  Mohan refused her. She thought of buying a machine to start stitching the villagers' clothes.  So she found other work saved up and bought a sewing machine. Now, she started stitching the clothes of the villagers.  She was very polite and talked to her customers all the time.  Her customers thought her work was excellent.  Now, everyone was going to that lady for stitching, and Mohan’s business almost ended.

One day, when Mohan didn’t earn a single rupee from stitching, Mohan’s wife went to meet the lady.  She said, “Since you opened your shop, no one has come to my husband’s shop. I want you to sell your shop to me.”  The lady agreed and sold her shop for fifty thousand dollars.

Mohan was so angry at the other woman for taking his customers that he burned her shop. When Mohan’s wife saw this, she came running over to Mohan and said, “You fool! The lady just sold this shop to us for fifty thousand dollars. You just burned down your own shop!”  Mohan, after listening to this, sat down, put his hands on his head, and said nothing.

Moral:  Anger doesn’t solve anything, but it can destroy everything.

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You Can't Please Everyone

An old man, a boy and a donkey were going to town. The boy rode on the donkey and the old man walked. As they went along, they passed some people who remarked it was a shame the old man was walking and the boy was riding. The man and boy thought maybe the critics were right, so they changed positions.

Then, later, they passed some people who remarked, "What a shame, he makes that little boy walk." So they then decided they'd both walk!

Soon they passed some more people who thought they were stupid to walk when they had a decent donkey to ride. So, they both rode the donkey. Now they passed some people who shamed them by saying how awful to put such a load on a poor donkey.

The boy and man figured they were probably right, so they decided to carry the donkey. As they crossed the bridge, they lost their grip on the animal and he fell into the river and drowned.

The moral of the story? If you try to please everyone, you might as well... Kiss your “donkey" goodbye! And even this ending won’t please everyone.