It was a little girl who first saw the mysterious shape in the distance.
有个女孩最先发现了远处有个奇怪的身影。
As the shape moved closer, she saw that it was a heavily pregnant woman.
那个身影越靠越近，她看清楚了，那是一个快生孩子的妇女。
Shy but brave, the little girl moved nearer to the woman.
“We must keep her with us,” the little girl’s people decided. “We’ll keep her and her child safe.”
The child was soon on its way.
“Push!”
“Bring blankets!”
“Water!”
“Puuuuussssshhh!!!”
孩子很快就要降生了。“用力啊！”“快拿毯子来！”“水！”“再用点力！”
But when they saw the baby, everyone jumped back in shock.
“A donkey?!”
当他们看到孩子时，所有人都吓了一跳，“一头驴？”
Everyone began to argue.
“We said we would keep mother and child safe, and that’s what we’ll do,” said some.
“But they will bring us bad luck!” said others.
And so the woman found herself alone again.
She wondered what to do with this awkward child.
She wondered what to do with herself.
妇女发现自己又孤零零一人了。她不知道该拿这个奇怪的孩子怎么办，她也不知道自己该怎么办。
But finally she had to accept that he was her child and she was his mother.
最后，她决定接受这个孩子，做他的妈妈。
Now, if the child had stayed that same, small size, everything might have been different. But the donkey child grew and grew until he could no longer fit on his mother’s back.
And no matter how hard he tried, he could not behave like a human being. His mother was often tired and frustrated. Sometimes she made him do work meant for animals.
Confusion and anger built up inside Donkey. He couldn’t do this and he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t be like this and he couldn’t be like that.
He became so angry that, one day, he kicked his mother to the ground.
Donkey was filled with shame. He started to run away as far and fast as he could.
驴孩子羞愧极了，他逃跑了，跑得越远越好。
By the time he stopped running, it was night, and Donkey was lost.
“Hee haw?” he whispered to the darkness.
“Hee Haw?” it echoed back. He was alone.
Curling himself into a tight ball, he fell into a deep and troubled sleep.
Donkey woke up to find a strange old man staring down at him. He looked into the old man’s eyes and started to feel a twinkle of hope.
驴孩子醒了，他发现有个老人低头盯着他。他看着老人的眼睛，感觉到了一丝希望。
Donkey went to stay with the old man, who taught him many different ways to survive.
Donkey listened and learned, and so did the old man. They helped each other, and they laughed together.
The donkey child and his mother have grown together and found many ways of living side by side.
Slowly, all around them, other families have started to settle.
