Pagina 171 di 274

He himself rides in comfort, but lets his poor little boy follow

as best he can on his own legs!" So he made his Son get up behind

him. Further along the road they met some travellers, who asked

the Miller whether the Ass he was riding was his own property, or

a beast hired for the occasion. He replied that it was his own,

and that he was taking it to market to sell. "Good heavens!" said

they, "with a load like that the poor beast will be so exhausted

by the time he gets there that no one will look at him. Why,

you'd do better to carry him!" "Anything to please you," said the

old man, "we can but try." So they got off, tied the Ass's legs

together with a rope and slung him on a pole, and at last reached

the town, carrying him between them. This was so absurd a sight

that the people ran out in crowds to laugh at it, and chaffed the

Father and Son unmercifully, some even calling them lunatics.