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.”
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.
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.
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 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.
ある朝、おじいさんはロバにのり、山のてっぺんにつれていくようお願いをしました。
One morning, the old man asked Donkey to carry him to the top of a mountain.
彼らは雲の上で眠りに落ち、ロバはお母さんが病気になり、自分のことを呼んでいる夢をみました。
High up amongst the clouds they fell asleep.
Donkey dreamed that his mother was sick and calling to him.
And when he woke up…
ロバが起きたときには、雲も、親愛なるおじいさんも消えてなくなっていました。
… the clouds had disappeared along with his friend, the old man.
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.
