The Donkey and the King

THE DONKEY AND THE KING Once upon an ancient time There lived a good and wealthy King Who had a stable-ful of horses But whenever He chose to stroll He did not pick from His horses But rather, He chose an old donkey Much to the surprise of even me. But so loved was He by His people That whenever He rode the donkey They spread palms and clothes before Him And shouted His praises to all who could hear. But as the donkey walked on the palms and clothes And listened to the praises that was sung He started being silly And started thinking that the glory Was his and not the King's. So he started acting proudly To his fellow pack of mules And would not speak kindly To any of the King's subjects. When the King got news of this, He right away, sent for the donkey And scolded and admonished him And waited in hope to see some changes But the donkey grew worse And did not heed the King's Words. So the King expelled the donkey From His stable and castle But the donkey had little to be sorry for For now, he thought, He had all the glory to himself. So he got up and went to the City And walked around with his nose high He walked for hours without a praise; Only jeers from little kids And when he tried to walk on someones clothes, He got a very healthy beating. He thought he could bear with this situation For he thought the King depended on him But after seeing the King ride on a new mule He realised with great horror That all things belongs to the King. So he repented and went back to the King He knelt down and cried and pleaded And the King showed him mercy And restored him to his place. So when next he rode the King He too, shouted alongside the King's subjects, 'Praise be to the King of Kings Who has shown me great grace By choosing me to do His will' And indeed, it was well with the donkey.