Rensselaer Standard, Volume 1, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 November 1879 — Story of the Five Silver Donkeys. [ARTICLE]

Story of the Five Silver Donkeys.

A very wealthy man of the Hebrew faith, finding himself near his end, called his five sons to his bedside and presented each with a silver donkey, equipped with panniers, and said: "There was a merchant traveling from Bassora to Bagdad with a cargo of silk; but as this, however, was not sufficient to fill more than one of the panniers, he balanced the burden by filling the other with stones. As he was journeying he was overtaken by a wayfarer, who fell into conversation with him, and in the course of fit remarked, ‘What a fool you must be!” ‘Very probable,’ was the reply; ‘but in what particular?’ ‘Why,’ said the other, ‘don’t y*u see that if you were to distribute your silk equally between the two panniers and throw away the stones, you would diminish your ass’s burden by one half?’ ‘Very true,’ rejoined the other; *1 thank you for your very wise counsel.’ And forthwith the silk merchant threw his stones out on the road and distributed tne cargo in equal portions between the two panniers. As, however, they continued their journey, the merchant remarked: ‘You are a very clever and discerning person, but how is it that you are In such evil case? Your clothes are soiled and threadbare, and you have scarcely a shoe to your foot.’ ‘The truth is,’ was the reply, ‘I am an unfortunate man. Then I will go back and pick up my stones,’ which he accordingly did, and replaced the silk in statu quo. It happened that when he arrived at Bagdad he found that the Caliph was building a new palace, but was brought to a stand-still for want o£ stones. So the merchant sold his stones for more than he got for his silk, and returned rejoicing. Now, my sons, in presenting you each with a silver donkey, I wish to impress upon you this maxim: Never take the advice of an unfortunate man.”