THE SCENE: A thief makes a fool of a donkey-owner in this amusing tale from Arabian Nights.
THE TEXT: One day a jolly fellow, who belonged to that class which is always being taken in, was walking through the market leading an ass behind him by a simple cord. A clever robber saw him and, wishing to steal the beast, expressed his desire to one of his companions, who asked: “How can you do it without the man noticing you?” “Follow me and you shall see,” answered the other. He went up behind the man and, softly untying the halter from the ass, put it round his own neck, without the exchange being noticed; then he walked along like a beast of burden, while his companion made off with the ass.
When the thief knew that the stolen animal was out of sight, he halted abruptly so that the man in front, without turning, tried to pull him forward. Finding that he could not do this, the victim looked over his shoulder to curse the ass and saw the robber at the end of the halter, regarding him with humble and imploring eyes. In his stupefaction he stood stock-still in front of the unexpected changeling, and it was some time before he could summon breath to ask: “What thing are you?” Filling his voice with tears, the robber cried: “I am your ass, my master; but my tale is a strange one. In my youth I was a bad lad, given to all sorts of disgraceful vice. One day I returned home in a disgusting state of drunkenness, and my mother, who could not contain her anger, heaped reproaches upon me and would have turned me out of the house. I pushed her away and even struck her in my intoxicated frenzy; therefore she cursed me and, because of that curse, I was changed into an ass. You, my master, bought me in the market for five dinars and, ever since then, while I have served you as a beast of burden, you have continually pricked my bottom when I was worn out and could not walk, and have subjected me to a thousand oaths which I would not dare to repeat. I could not complain, because my voice had been taken away from me; the very most I could do, and that on the rarest occasions, was to fart instead of speaking. But to-day my poor mother must certainly have remembered me kindly and, in die pity of her heart, prayed mercy on me from the Highest; and this mercy has undoubtedly changed me back into my original form.”
Hearing this, die poor man cried aloud: “O fellow human, for Allah’s sake forgive me the injuries which I have done you and forget the harsh treatment which you have undergone. There is no help save in Allah!” So crying, he undid the halter from the robber’s neck and returned, bitterly repenting, to his own house, where remorse prevented him from closing his eyes all night.
A few days after the victim of this trick went to the ass market to buy another animal, and was mightily surprised to see his old donkey in its original form being put up for sale. Thinking to himself; “This rascal must have committed some other heinous act!” he went up to the ass, which brayed with delight on seeing him, and, bending down to its ear, cried into it as loud as he could: “O incorrigible young man, you have been beating your mother again! As Allah lives, I will not buy you a second time!” He spat furiously in the donkey’s face and then, passing on, bought himself another animal.
– One Thousand and One Arabian Nights, 15th Century AD
