The Bull and the Donkey

When the men come for me, I shall again toss my head, paw the ground, and bellow with my great voice. Then I shall lie down and they will not be able to lead me out to work.”

As the donkey stood up, he felt that his legs were still shaky from the previous day’s toil in the fields. When he heard the bull’s plans to stay at home, he reflected: “Oh foolish me! I am not half as clever as I thought. I gave the bull good advice, but I did not foresee how it would rebound on me and how I would pay for it. Now I must play a trick on him, or I shall suffer once more.”

And so now he said to the bull:

“My friend, I have advised you well once, and now I shall advise you again. When the men come today, do not toss your head and refuse to take the yoke. Nor should you bellow with rage or lie down in your straw, if you care for your life. For yesterday, I heard the merchant speaking to his steward. He gave orders that if the bull does not work, he should take him to the butcher and make meat for the poor people, and leather for shoes and saddles.”

The bull thanked the donkey for once again giving him wise advice, and when the men came to fetch him from the stall, he willingly took the yoke and went out to the fields for his day’s work.

The merchant saw all that had happened, and all day long he was laughing and smiling to himself whenever he thought of the trick that he had played on the donkey.

Now the merchant had a wife, whom he had been married to for many years, and whom he loved dearly. She did not fail to notice that he was smiling to himself all day, and she asked him the reason. He said:

“My beloved, I am laughing at a conversation that I overheard between the animals, but I cannot tell it to you for I will surely die on the spot. Long ago, I prayed to Allah that I should understand the speech of all kinds of creatures, and in return for this favour I offered that if ever I should betray what I heard to another human soul, then I should die immediately.”

The merchant’s wife only grew more curious when she heard this reply, and demanded more and more vehemently that he should tell her what he had heard the animals say and that she should share in his amusement.

“But I shall surely die if I tell you!” he protested.

“Nonsense! There can be no secrets between man and wife. I shall leave you if you do not tell me! “ she replied.

The argument went on so long that the merchant could bear her sulking no longer. He sat down to write his will and worked with his steward to make sure that all his affairs were in order and his debts were paid before he died. Then he called all his family and his servants to a meeting and told them of his decision:

“This evening I shall relate to my wife what I heard of the conversation between the bull and the donkey, and then I must surely die. And therefore this is my last farewell. May Allah be praised and always be with you.”

And so saying, he went about the family and servants distributing small gifts so that they would remember him well.

Now when Scheherazade reached this part of the story, she said to the Sultan:

“But great one, I must halt my tale, for the sunlight is at our window and it is time to rise and meet whatever the day holds in store for us.”

And the Sultan, who had been listening very intently to the tale, and was greatly amused by it, was anxious to hear what happened next. Would the merchant really tell his wife what had happened, and die on the spot? He begged Scheherazade to finish the tale, but the call to Prayer was already echoing around the rooftops of the palace, and the maids were busy sweeping the courtyards.

The wise and lovely woman stroked the Sultan’s head, and said: “If it so pleases you, great master, I shall finish telling the tale this following night.”

And as the Sultan so wanted to know the end of the story, he gladly agreed to her suggestion, and Scheherazade lived through that day as his queen. The following night, she continued her story of the merchant:

All of the merchant’s household was in tears and even the dogs got to hear of the terrible news and began to howl. Only the cockerel strutted about the farm looking as proud and as pleased with himself as usual. He made his call to the hens:

“Cock-a-doodle-do!!”

The behaviour of the cockerel angered the farm dogs who said:

“Why do you make merry when we are in mourning for the master? Have you not heard that he is about to die? Do you not have any respect for him?”

And the proud cockerel replied:

“I am not sorry for the master. I have 50 wives and he has but one. He should understand better how to behave with his wife.”

And it so happened that the merchant, was sitting in his study overlooking the farmyard, and when he overheard this conversation, he felt ashamed that he had given in to despair and not handled the situation better. He thought to himself:

“I am shrewd in business, and know all there is to know about farming, but in my own home I am like a fool, and understand nothing of diplomacy. I must be as cunning as…. as the donkey.”

And with new hope in his heart, he went to his wife’s room, and knocked softly on the door: His wife’s voice called out from within:

“Are you now ready to tell me what you heard the animals say that was so amusing?”

And the merchant replied that he was ready, and he came into the room:

“My dear, it is all very simple,” he explained. “The bull spoke like this:”

“LOWWWWWW!”

And the donkey replied like this:

“EEEE-AWWWW!

And then the dogs said:

“AOWWWWWW!”

and the cockerel said:

“Cock-a-doodle-do!”

And when she heard her husband speak like this, the wife laughed so much that she forgot her anger and was happy.

And that was the very first story of 1001 Nights that Scheherazade told the Sultan, enchanting and amusing the cruel tyrant with her words and in so doing softening his heart. When she had finished the tale, her sister, Dunyazad, who shared the room with them spoke up and said:

“Your excellence, do you wish my sister to tell you another tale? For she has a great many others, some even more wonderful than this one.

And the Sultan who was not sleepy, said that he would gladly hear another tale, if it was as entertaining as the one they had just heard, and so Scheherazade began the second story of 1001 Nights.