The Donkey in the Well

A farmer’s old donkey accidentally fell into a deep, dry well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, the well needed to be covered up anyway, and it just wasn’t worth the massive effort to retrieve the donkey.

He invited his neighbors to help him bury the animal. They all grabbed shovels and began pitching dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and wailed terribly.

But then, to everyone’s amazement, the donkey quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer looked down into the well and was astonished at what he saw. With every shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake the dirt off and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take another step up. Pretty soon, everyone watched in amazement as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off.