One day, Mulla Nasruddin was on his way to the market with a basketful of vegetables loaded on his donkey. Halfway to the market, the donkey suddenly stopped. Mulla tried to coax it to move forward again but the animal would not budge. In anger and desperation, Mulla began to beat it with a stick. Many people gathered around them. “Why are you beating the poor creature?” asked one man. “Stop beating it at once!” ordered a second man. “What a cruel man you are!” said a third. Mulla stopped and gave his donkey an admiring look. “If I had known you had so many relatives to defend you, I would never have hit you,” he said, “I can see you come from a large and loud-mouthed family.” The men, who had commented, went away in anger. The crowd dispersed leaving Mulla to deal with his donkey as he thought fit.
Donkey’s Relatives
