The Ass has to endure the hardest labour, and is contented with the
coarsest food. The statement that Asses are stubborn animals is not
true, it arises from ill usage, and not from any defect in their temper.
[Illustration:
THE ASS.
]
An old man, who a few years ago sold vegetables in London, used in his
employment an Ass, which conveyed his baskets from door to door. He
frequently gave the poor creature a handful of hay, or a piece of coarse
bread, or some greens, by way of refreshment and reward. The old man had
no need of any stick for the animal, indeed he seldom had to lift up his
hand to drive it on. This kind treatment being one day observed, he was
asked whether his beast was not apt to be stubborn. “Ah! master (he
replied), it is of no use to be cruel; and as for stubbornness I cannot
complain, for he is ready to do any thing, and to go any where. I bred
him myself. He is sometimes skittish and playful, and once ran away from
me; there were then more than fifty people after him, attempting in vain
to stop him, yet after all he turned back of his own accord, and never
stopped till he ran his head kindly into my bosom.”
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