THE DONKEYS AND THE CARROTS
“Once upon a time there were some donkeys who lived happily in a field where they could eat
what they wanted and do what they wanted, and they thought that they would spend the rest of their
lives like that.
Unbeknownst to the donkeys, however, they had an owner. This owner, at one point, developed a
secret plan for the donkeys. He wanted the donkeys to accept him as a kind of overlord, and do
whatever they were told to do without asking questions.
It so happened that there was a wolf in the area of the fields. How this wolf got there is unknown.
He may have wandered down from the high mountains in search of food, or he may have been
brought there on purpose. We do not know. Off course the donkeys wetted his appetite. Donkey
meat, they say, is very tasty.
The donkeys, as all donkeys do, brayed their fear. This was a golden opportunity for the owner of
the donkeys, but being a very democratic owner, he gave the donkeys several choices. He told them
that they were absolutely free to choose whichever they wanted, the choices were voluntary.
He told the donkeys that if they wanted he would save them from the wolf, and protect them. He
told them that he had a secret weapon to send the wolf away. The donkeys got all excited.
The owner told the donkeys that if they ate a certain plant which was at the end of the field, the wolf
would get scared and run away. He assured them that eating the plant was optional, that it was not
obligatory . To eat or not to eat was a free choice. It was only meant for their wellbeing and safety
against the wolf. Which shows that he was a very thoughtful and kind owner.
The donkeys were hesitant. They did not know this plant and nobody had ever eaten it, so they did
not know how it would taste, and they did not know if it would harm them, but the owner reassured
him that the plant was perfectly safe. He had several scientists to back him up.
Still the donkeys were a little hesitant, so the owner got impatient.
He had a carrot bush in his garden that produced carrots, so he told the donkeys that if they would
eat the plant at the end of the field he would give them the carrots as a reward.
The donkeys were very tempted, thinking of the carrots, and many of them ate the plant and got
their reward, but others were still hesitant, having been assured repeatedly that eating it was not
obligatory, that they had a choice. So they choose not to eat the plant.
So the owner, who at that point was losing his patience, because he had planned all along that all
the donkeys should eat the plant, told the hesitant ones that if they would not eat the plant at the
end of the field, he would put him in their stable and would not let them out anymore to play with
their friends. And of course they would not get the carrots.
And so he did.
Apart from a few almost all the donkeys ate the plant and got their carrots.
The wolf went away.
The donkeys were happy, munching on their carrots.
The owner was happy .
The donkeys that had not eaten the plant were put in their stable without carrots.
For some mysterious reasons that we do not know, they were happy too. We do not know. We can
only guess what they those reasons were.
END OF THE TIMELESS STORY.