Author: CHUNG Yoon Ngan
Date: 07-01-08 23:41
A Malaysian donkey
The time was at the end of the of the nineteenth century and Malaya, now
Malaysia, was already colonized by the British. At that time rubber was
yet to be introduced into Malaya. However, there were many Chinese and British
owned tin mines in the Kinta Valley in the State of Perak, Malaya.
http://yn.chung.id.au/KintaDistrict1942.jpg
http://yn.chung.id.au/Malaya1950s.jpg
These British tin mines employed many Chinese workers to do the drudgery
work. One British tin mine thought of using donkeys to replace some of the
Chinese workers. So the manager of one of these tin mines imported a donkey
from the Middle East. He used this donkey to conduct an experiment as a
beast of burden.
A few weeks later this donkey escaped and ran off into the nearby jungle.
It wandered through the woods where there were tigers roaming about for
preys in the vicinity.
One day, a tiger met the donkey. The tiger had never seen a donkey before.
Fearing that it might not be able to win if it were to fight the donkey,
the tiger dared not went near it. By coincidence the donkey made a loud
cry and the tiger ran for its life.
A few days later, the same tiger met the donkey again at about the same
place. This time the tiger did nothing but stood there watching the donkey
closely. It looked at the donkey for a long time.
The tiger got used to its shape, its size and the noise it made occasionally.
Familiarity breeds contempt. The tiger was not afraid of the donkey anymore.
In order to test the ability of the donkey the tiger went near it and purposely
tried to hit at it with its claw. The donkey was angry and made a loud cry,
an old trick as before. This time the tiger did not run away. It went near
the donkey again. The donkey turned around and raised its hind legs trying
to kick at the tiger. The manners it used its hind legs to kick had betrayed
its strength. The kick showed its weakness. The tiger knew that although
it had a reasonable size yet it was a feeble animal. So the tiger went nearer.
The donkey kicked again with its hind legs. Knowing the donkey was not
a strong animal the tiger jumped on it
and killed it for dinner.
The moral of this story is that although the donkey is big and looks formidable
yet it is hopeless and impotent.
CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (鄭永元)
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