There once lived a poor peasant. I do not know his name, but he earned
a living by gathering dead wood in the forest, and he had a donkey who
was no bigger ass than himself. Perhaps by this you will be able to
recognize him.
One day the peasant hitched his donkey into the shafts of his little
cart and went off as usual to the wood for his day's toil. Arrived
there, he tied the donkey to a tree and then, by way of the cart,
climbed the trunk in order to break off some dead branches which he had
noticed above. As he sat there, legs astraddle on the branch, busily
breaking away the dead wood, along through the forest came a lord
dressed in fine clothes, with his manservant behind him.
"Hallo! my man," cried the lord, "if you don't come down from that
tree pretty soon you'll get a tumble. The branch you are sitting on is
cracked."
"Cracked, is it?" answered the peasant. "Well, so much the worse for
me." And he went on calmly with his work.
The lord went away shrugging his shoulders at the peasant's stupidity;
and, sure enough, before he had gone very far, _crack! crack!_ the
branch broke, and down fell the peasant to the foot of the tree, giving
himself a fine blow on the nose, which immediately swelled almost to
the size of a turnip.
"My word," muttered the peasant, tenderly feeling the sore place, "that
man must have been a sorcerer! He can foretell the future! He said I'd
fall and I certainly have fallen! I must run after him and ask him to
tell me something else. This is a chance not to be missed!"
So off he ran as fast as his bruised limbs would allow, in pursuit of
the lord, and presently came up with him. "Hi, sir, wait a minute!" he
cried. "You told me the truth about the tree. The branch broke right
enough and I fell on my nose. Won't you tell me something else?"
"Willingly," answered the lord, "and I hope this time that you will pay
heed to what I say. Take care not to load your ass too heavily, for if
you do so he will bray, and if he brays three times running I predict
that you will suddenly die."
"Oh dear me!" sighed the peasant. "I am the most unfortunate of
men. Each prediction about my future seems to be an unhappy one.
Nevertheless, I am very much obliged to you, sir. Good day." And he
took off his cap to the lord and bowed, and lurched off back to his
tree.
For a long time he worked busily, and found so much wood that his
little cart soon became full. Then he remembered what the lord had told
him about loading his ass too heavily, but he was so avaricious that
he could not make up his mind to stop. "One more branch won't make any
difference," he kept on saying as he piled more and more wood into the
cart. At last the poor donkey could stand no more and, lifting his
head, he uttered a loud "Hee-haw!"
[Illustration: "HALLO MY MAN," CRIED THE LORD]
At this the peasant turned pale with fright. "Stop, stop, what are you
doing?" he cried. "Oh, my dear little ass, I beg you not to bray again.
I will not put another branch into the cart. We will go home straight
away and you shall have carrots for supper!"
So saying, he climbed to his seat and shook the reins as a signal for
departure. The donkey pulled and pulled, but not an inch would the cart
budge, although he strained his muscles to the utmost. Finding all his
efforts vain, he turned his head and once again gave utterance to a
loud bray of protest.
"Oh, dear me, that's twice!" cried the peasant, jumping down from his
perch. "If he brays once more I'm a dead man. Do you hear that, little
ass? For goodness' sake, remain dumb until we reach home, and I'll help
you pull the cart!" Freed of the peasant's weight, the load for a time
was easier to pull, but at the end of another ten minutes the weight
began to tell again. The ass stopped and brayed loudly for the third
time.
"That's finished it!" cried the peasant. "I am dead!" And he fell flat
to the ground.
Left to himself, the ass wandered slowly on, dragging the load behind
him. Soon he came to the gates of the town, and the guard took him and
put him into the pound. After a time, as nobody claimed him, he was
sold.
Meanwhile the peasant lay where he had fallen. Presently a carriage
drove up, and the coachman was forced to pull in his horses because of
the body that lay stretched across the road.
"Come," he cried, thinking that the peasant was drunk, "rouse yourself,
swill-tub! Get up, unless you want to be run over!"
"I can't get up!" moaned the peasant.
"Why not?"
"Because I'm dead!"
"Dead, are you?" cried the coachman, jumping from his seat in anger.
"Well I've something here that will bring you to life again!" And he
took his whip and laid on to the peasant with such a will that in
less than ten seconds the fellow was capering about all over the road.
Having thus effectively brought the dead man to life, he remounted his
box and drove off grumbling.
In the roadway the peasant continued to dance about until the pain of
his beating had somewhat subsided. Then he looked around, and for the
first time missed his donkey.
[Illustration: "I CAN'T GET UP, BECAUSE I'M DEAD!"]
"Dear, dear, dear!" he cried, "one trouble after another! When I was
dead I wished I was alive; now I'm alive I wish I was dead again, for
I'm sore all over, and I've lost my donkey. Whatever shall I do?" And,
groaning and grumbling, he set off along the road in search of his
beast.
After a time he came to the gates of the town, where a sentry was
standing with his pike on his shoulder. "Good morning, good man," said
the peasant. "Have you seen my little ass?"
"Your ass!" answered the sentry, smiling. "The only ass that has passed
through these gates to-day is already become burgomaster!"
"What! Burgomaster!" cried the peasant. "My ass Burgomaster! Tell me
quickly, where does he live? I must go to him at once!"
Hardly able to control his amusement, the sentry pointed out the way
to the Burgomaster's house, and thither went the peasant in all haste.
Arrived at the door, he sounded the great bell--_Darlindindin!_--and a
maidservant appeared.
"Is the Burgomaster at home?" asked the peasant. Yes, he was at home,
and the maidservant led the peasant to the room where he sat behind a
big table loaded with documents.
"Good morning, Ass!" said the peasant, with a grin of delight that
twisted his swollen and discoloured features.
"Eh! what, what!" stammered the Burgomaster, turning purple with anger.
"I beg your pardon," said the peasant, "I should have said, 'Good
morning, Mr. Ass, Esquire,' for you have become a great man now, while
I am still a poor woodcutter. I don't envy you your good fortune, I am
sure, although your promotion has left me without a donkey. Since you
have become such a great lord, won't you give me back the ten florins
you cost me, so that I may buy another?"
At this the Burgomaster's rage exploded. Leaping over the table with
one bound, he seized the hapless peasant by the collar of his coat,
threw open the door, and, with one mighty kick, sent him sprawling from
top to bottom of the stairs.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: THE EAGLE AND THE KINGLET]