Stories - THE DONKEY AND THE DOG
Once upon a time there lived a washer man named Dhamaka Mallu. He had a donkey and a dog as his pets.
One day the washer man was tired due to his heavy load of work. He slept with out any awareness of his surroundings. At midnight a thief tried to get inside the house. The donkey and the dog that were chained to a pole saw the thief.
Donkey: “Have you seen the thief entering the house?”
Dog: “Yes! I saw him”
Donkey: “Then why don’t you bark?”
Dog: “That’s my wish. I won’t bark”
Donkey: “A thief is entering our owner’s house. Isn’t it wrong to be silent after witnessing this?”
Dog: “It’s true. I work hard day and night watching the house. Our owner does not give me even a handful amount of food. Why should I bother about his loss when he does not care about my needs?”
Donkey: “This is not the time to weigh the good and bad. Your loss is nothing compared to our owner’s loss. Please bark and wake up him”
The dog neither moved nor barked. The donkey got angry and said ‘Fine!!! I can do this job if you are not willing to do. Look, how I can wake up our owner”
He brayed so loudly that the thief ran away and the washer man awoke. He thought “What’s wrong with this donkey? He spoiled my good deep sleep”
He took a stick to beat the donkey.
When he came out of the house he saw the thief running and thought “The donkey saved my belongings today. He helped me though it was not his duty. The dog did not do what it was supposed to do.”
“May be it was my mistake of ill-treating them. But I no longer need the dog.”
He unchained the dog and asked him to leave the house. The donkey was well taken care of there after.
MORAL: ”Be Helpful. Be not revengeful for the wrongs done by others”
(Story adapted from Mitrabhedamu of Panchatantra with a revised ending by sister Padmaja Gudipati)