Hello friends, today I’ll tell you a story about a donkey and a fox.

Once upon a time, there was a washerman who owned a donkey. During the day, the donkey would carry the washerman’s clothes. At night, the washerman would let him loose in a nearby field to graze. However, the donkey had no interest in grass. He preferred to sneak into nearby farms to eat his favorite vegetables. By morning, he would return and go back to sleep at the washerman’s house.

One night, while the donkey was roaming in the fields, he met a fox, and they became fast friends. Every night, they would both sneak into the fields. The donkey would eat his favorite vegetables, and the fox would hunt the farmers’ chickens. But as morning approached, they would both return to their respective homes.

One full moon night, while the donkey was with the fox in the field, he saw the moon and said, “Look how beautiful the moonlight is! I feel like singing a nice song.” The fox immediately replied, “No, friend. We are here to steal food. Thieves shouldn’t make any noise. We should do our work quietly and leave. If your singing is heard, the farmers won’t leave us alive.”

But the donkey was offended. He said, “You are a wild animal. What do you know about the beauty of music?” Seeing that there was no way to stop him, the fox, being clever, said, “Okay, okay, you must sing! But I’ll go stand guard outside so no farmer can enter the field.” The fox then quickly disappeared.

A little later, the donkey began to sing, and he brayed horribly. As soon as the sound reached the farmers, they knew a donkey had entered their fields. When they saw the donkey had ruined a lot of their crops, they became furious. They came with sticks and beat the donkey badly. Afterward, they hung a bell around his neck.

After the farmers had left, the fox returned, laughing. “You must have sung a great song,” she said, “because they hung this bell around your neck as an award!” The donkey felt very ashamed and bad.

Children, what is the lesson of this story?

There is a proper time and place for everything. If we don’t do things at the right time, we’ll only bring trouble upon ourselves.