A watch-dog in a village was barking all night to keep thieves off
from his master's house. An ass, who observed this, thought that the
dog amused himself by barking. So he brayed all night. When the
day dawned, the owner of the ass thought the poor animal had been
suffering from some disorder. Therefore he sent for the village
doctor, and laid the case before him.
The doctor examined the animal closely, and said, "Friend, you must
brand this ass forthwith, else he will soon go into fits and die."
The ass said, "I assure you nothing is wrong with me; I simply amused
myself last night."
"Oh, no," said the inexorable leech; "I know what the wily brute
means. He would rather die, and make you the loser, than be branded
and recover his health."
So they bound the ass with ropes, and branded him all over with
red-hot irons. Some time after the ass moved out to see how the
village had fared during his illness. The dog asked why he had been
branded. The ass narrated the story. Quoth the dog, "_He that
mistakes work for amusement must pay for his error_."
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