A Mule, which was pampered up and easily worked, became plump, sleek,
and in high condition, and in the height of his wantonness, would
scamper about from hill to dale in all the wildness of unbridled
restraint. Why should not I, said he to himself, be as good a racer as
any horse whatever? My father, whose pedigree was well known, was one
of the best of them; do not I resemble him in every respect? While he
was indulging his vanity in reveries of this kind, his master having
occasion to mount him upon urgent business, put him upon his speed,
and, ere long, was obliged to use both whip and spur to force him to
push forward. Thus jaded and tired, he muttered to himself, Alas! I
find now, I was mistaken in my pedigree, for my sire was not a Horse,
but an Ass.