Grape acid? Grape sweet? - A moral fable of responsibility - Mind Growth Pocket Book

Author: Chen Peng / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features:
A Donkey Who Finds Joy in Trouble
Once, a merchant bought a lot of salt in the town. He put the salt into cloth bags and placed the bags on the donkey's back, planning to carry them back to the village. The donkey felt the bags were too heavy and unhappily followed him. The town and the village were separated by a river. When crossing the river, the donkey stumbled and fell into the water, and a significant amount of salt dissolved in the river. The merchant was unhappy and blamed the donkey for being foolish. But the donkey was secretly pleased because the bags were much lighter! The donkey gained experience and came up with a clever idea to shirk work, feeling quite smug! The merchant, however, noticed nothing.
The next day, the merchant took the donkey to the town again. But this time, instead of buying salt, he bought cotton. The cotton bundles on the donkey's back were as heavy as small mountains and weighed a lot! The donkey still unhappily followed the merchant, thinking, "When we reach the river, I'll use my clever idea!"
When they reached the river, the donkey acted according to his plan and deliberately rolled into the water. But when he tried to stand up again, he realized something was wrong. The cotton bundles had become even heavier after soaking in the water! The donkey's plan failed, and he was truly frustrated! The merchant dragged the donkey, who struggled to stand up, carrying the heavy cotton bundles, full of resentment as he walked to the village.
Reflection and Insight:
The merchant owns the donkey, and the donkey works for the merchant, so the donkey bears a responsibility. However, because the workload was too heavy, the donkey started thinking of ways to shirk it. Unsurprisingly, his idea didn't work and only made his work burden even heavier! As the saying goes, "You kick the stone and hurt your own feet!" The donkey came up with a dishonest trick to avoid work, which seemed irresponsible. If he had been forced into this job rather than chosen it, he would have had to do it well. If the work was truly too difficult, he should have communicated with the merchant, told him the workload was too heavy, and requested a reduction. Unfortunately, the donkey couldn't speak, so he had to resort to such measures.
In reality, even if the donkey could speak, the merchant was too greedy and always tried to take advantage of the donkey, so it's unlikely he would have lighten the load.
Why did the donkey fall into the river the first time he carried salt, yet the merchant still gave him such a heavy burden the second time? In fact, responsibility is mutual. Only when the merchant is responsible for the donkey can the donkey be responsible to the merchant. Otherwise, the donkey would have to resort to tricks or even deceive the merchant. The result of being irresponsible is often that both parties suffer. Therefore, if you want others to be responsible for you, you must first be responsible for others!
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