Once a farmer went to his barn to see his favourite donkey, a great big shaggy gray animal, who was eating hay in a stall. Now the Donkey loved his master and as soon as he saw the man, he brayed: “Ee-aw!Ee-aw!”
“Good morning, yourself,” said the man.
But, just at that moment a dog, a little teeny, tiny Lap Dog, came running out to the barn and began to frisk and leap and lick his master’s hand.
“Hello, my pretty,” said the Farmer. And he sat down on a bench, took the Dog up on his lap and began to pet and stroke him. Well, this was too much for the Donkey; he wanted the very petting the little Lap Dog was getting. So the Donkey said to himself, “Ee-aw!Ee-aw!Ee-aw!! do all the hard work while that little dog gets petted and hasn’t a thing to do. If I want the master to love me, I’ll have to act like a lap dog.” And all of a sudden that Donkey, that great, big, lumbering Donkey broke loose from his halter and began to caper about and frisk and dance and prance just like a little lap dog! He knocked over a pail of water! He banged into the master’s bench. He upset a milking stool as he mimicked the little dog.
“What on earth are you doing?” the master howled in surprise while the little Dog ran in a fright.
Then the great, big, clumsy Donkey came leaping and jumping along and suddenly sat himself down right on the farmer’s lap, just as the Lap Dog had done.
“Ee-aw, I want to be petted. Ee-aw! Ee-aw!” he said.
The Farmer began to laugh.
“You great, big clown!” he cried. “Go back to your stall and eat hay! If you want me to love you, you must be yourself and not act like anyone else.”
And he led the Donkey back to his stall and stroked and petted him. “You’re no good when you play the lap dog but you’re a wonderful donkey,” he said.
