The Donkey and His Shadow

A traveler hired a donkey to carry his bags across a hot plain. The donkey’s owner walked beside them. By noon, there were no trees or shelters nearby. The traveler wiped his forehead. “We must rest.”

The only shade came from the donkey. The traveler sat in it, but the owner told him to move. “You hired the donkey, not its shadow.”

“The shadow comes with the donkey,” the traveler replied. “I paid to use the animal for the journey.”

“You paid for it to carry your bags,” said the owner. “The donkey still belongs to me.”

The little shadow barely covered one person. Each tried to stand in its center. Their voices grew louder. They forgot the heat, the road, and the tired animal beside them.

Both pulled the rope in different directions. The donkey stepped back, and a bag slipped to the ground. Instead of calming him, they continued arguing. At another shout, he pulled free and ran down the road with most of the traveler’s belongings. His shadow went with him.

The men stood in the sun and stared at the empty road. “We argued over the shadow and lost the donkey,” the traveler said. “We could have taken turns,” the owner admitted.

They carried the fallen bag back to the village. There they found the donkey safely beside his stable. Relieved, they agreed to look for fair solutions before a small disagreement became a much larger problem.