In an ancient story, the father rode on the donkey and his son walked alongside him.
Onlookers were aghast: ‘Look how the father makes his son walk while he rides! Like he’s so important!’
The father, concerned at what people thought, decided to change things. Now his son rode on the donkey – and he walked.
The onlookers were aghast: ‘Look how the old man is made to walk by that jumped-up little son of his! Huh! The youth of today!’
The father, concerned at what people thought, decided to change things again. Now they rode together on the back of the donkey.
The onlookers were aghast: ‘Look how that poor donkey is made to carry two people. How cruel can you get?’
The father, concerned at what people thought, then changed things again. They both walked alongside the donkey.
The onlookers were aghast. ‘Look how they walk when they have a donkey to carry them. How ridiculous can you get? Are they stupid or something?’
The father then says to the son, ‘Perhaps we should carry the donkey.’
And the son says to the father, ‘Perhaps we should stop trying to please everyone. It’s wearing me out.’
