A Farmer one day came to the stables to see to his
beasts of burden: among them was his favourite Ass, that
was always well fed and often carried his master. With the
Farmer came his Lapdog, who danced about and licked his
hand and frisked about as happy as could be. The Farmer
felt in his pocket, gave the Lapdog some dainty food, and
sat down while he gave his orders to his servants. The
Lapdog jumped into his master’s lap, and lay there
blinking while the Farmer stroked his ears. The Ass, seeing
this, broke loose from his halter and commenced prancing
about in imitation of the Lapdog. The Farmer could not
hold his sides with laughter, so the Ass went up to him,
and putting his feet upon the Farmer’s shoulder attempted
to climb into his lap. The Farmer’s servants rushed up
with sticks and pitchforks and soon taught the Ass that
clumsy jesting is no joke.
Moral Lesson: Clumsy jesting is no joke.
―
Aesop
