One terrible winter a grizzled, old fellow and his reliable donkey, bearing baskets of grain upon its stolid back, were negotiating the Carpathians when they came to a shallow river.
With a look of despair, the old fellow realized that his donkey was afraid of water, and so in order to please the donkey, he decided to swim the river, tie a rope to a tree, and thereby draw the donkey across.
Shivering and shaking from the frigid water, a few hours later the old man succeeded in getting the donkey across the river.
Later that day they had just reached the first of the uplands when the donkey suddenly plopped down in the middle of the path. Casting the donkey a quizzical look, the old fellow noticed that his donkey had a blister upon its right rear fetlock.
Before long a rich woman came by in a carriage and began to denounce the old man for his maltreatment of the donkey.
"What a despicable scum you are to let your donkey suffer like that," cried the woman.
Uncertain how to respond, but knowing someone rich must be very wise, the old fellow hoisted the donkey onto his back, panniers and all, and carried it the rest of the day.
Arriving at a cheery inn just before dark, the now-exhausted old fellow left his donkey standing in the snow while he went inside to drink. While he was drinking the donkey began to hee haw.
The innkeeper was so concerned about the donkey, he berated the old man and said, "You selfish pig. If you had a heart, your donkey should sleep in bed, and you should stay out in the cold."
Feeling terribly guilty about the plight of his donkey, the old man carried the donkey upstairs to a bed in the inn, and he went to some straw strewn in front of the inn to sleep.
The night was bitter cold. The next morning when the donkey went in search of his master, he discovered the snow was head-deep.
In a panic the donkey ran outside to check on his master, whom he found frozen into a block of ice in snow up to its shoulders.
The donkey did the only thing possible. It built a fire in front of the inn, and once it was blazing put its master's block of ice into a huge kettle to melt.
No sooner than the old man was melted free of the block of ice, the constable came by and began to wave his arms.
"Hey, old man," the constable cried, "why are you hogging all that fire and leaving your poor donkey out in the cold."
Not knowing what to do because the constable had an oaken club, the old man put the donkey into the kettle, which was now full of boiling water. Before the old man knew it, the donkey was cooked into a little, shriveled ball.
Moral-Please all; please no one. A wise man soon knows good advice when he hears it.
