September 14. Story of the Day: Man, Son, and Ass

This is from Aesop's Fables by Lena Dalkeith. It's not exactly a chain tale, but it has a great series of permutations from one way of riding/walking to another to another until the unhappy conclusion.

This is not a classical Aesop's fable, but you can find it in the medieval and later Aesop; here are some more English versions.

The story is classified as ATU 1215.

Looking for more stories? Click here for previous Stories-of-the-Day.

THE MAN, HIS SON AND HIS ASS


(illustration by S. R. Praeger)

A man and his son were leading their ass to market. A girl, seeing them, cried, "Why walk when you can ride?"

On hearing this, the man set his son upon the ass.

Going further, they heard an old man say, "Shame for the young to ride while old people walk!"

Thereupon the man made his son get down and rode himself.

Presently they met some women who cried, "Look at the poor tired son and lazy father!"

Hearing this, the man took his son up beside him and so they rode into the town.

There a young man called to them, "Two men on one beast! It seems to me you are more fit to carry the ass than he is to carry you."

Then they got down, tied the beast's legs to a pole, and carried him thus till they came to a bridge.

As they went, the children shouted so loudly that the ass took fright, kicked his legs free, and jumped over the bridge into the river.

Thus having lost his ass, the man went home, crying, "Try to please everybody and you will please nobody, not even yourself!"