Chapter I: The Market

Men not being supposed to be aware of all that donkeys know, you, who read this book, are doubtless ignorant of what is well known to all my donkey friends, namely: that every Tuesday in the town of Laigle there is held a market, where vegetables, butter, eggs, cheese and other excellent things are sold. This Tuesday is a day of torture for my poor comrades; it was so for me before I was bought by my present good old mistress, your grandmother. I belonged to a farmer’s wife, exacting and cruel. Just imagine, my dear little master, that she carried her malice so far as to collect all the eggs her hens laid, all the butter and cheese from her cows’ milk, all the vegetables and fruits that ripened during the week, to fill baskets which she placed upon my back.

And when I was so heavily laden that I could scarcely move, this wicked woman seated herself upon the baskets and obliged me to trot thus burdened, overwhelmed, indeed, to the market of Laigle, a league from the farm. I was all this time in a rage I dared not show, for fear of the stick my mistress carried, a very big one full of knots, that hurt sorely when she beat me. Whenever I saw or heard these preparations for market, I sighed, I groaned, I ever brayed, in hopes of softening the hearts of my owners.

“Shut your mouth, great idle thing,” said they, coming to get me, “shut your mouth, and do not deafen us with your coarse, horrid voice. Hi! han! hi! han! that is beautiful music you are giving us! Edward, my boy, bring this lazy beast up to the door whilst your mother puts the load on his back. Here is a basket of eggs—one more! The cheese—the butter!—now the vegetables. That’s right! Here is a fine load, that is going to bring us several five franc pieces. Mary, my daughter, bring a chair for your mother to mount the donkey. Good-bye, a pleasant trip, wife, and make this lazy beast move. Hold on, here is your stick, hit him with it.”

Pan! Pan!

“That’s right, a few more caresses of that kind and he’ll go.”

Vlan! Vlan! The stick never ceased to belabor my sides, my legs, my neck; I trotted, I almost galloped, yet the woman still beat me. I was indignant at so much injustice and cruelty; I tried to kick and throw her off, but I was too heavily burdened; I could only start and sway from side to side, thus affording myself the satisfaction of feeling her slipping down. “Wicked donkey! stupid animal! headstrong creature!” said she, “I am going to teach you better, I’ll let you feel the weight of my stick.”

And indeed, she beat me so I could scarcely reach the town. We arrived at last. All the baskets were lifted off my poor skinned back and placed on the ground. My mistress having tied me to a post, went to breakfast, whilst I, who was dying of hunger and thirst, got not a sprig of grass, or a drop of water. I found means of getting close to the vegetables during her absence and refreshed myself by filling my stomach with a basket of salad and cabbage. I had never eaten anything so good in my life, but just as I was finishing the last cabbage and the last salad, my mistress returned. She uttered a scream on seeing her basket empty; I regarded her with such a satisfied insolent air, that she immediately recognized me as the author of her loss. I shall not repeat to you the names she called me. She was very high-tempered, and when in a rage, she swore and said things that made me blush, donkey as I am. Having loaded me with the most humiliating reproaches, to which I made no reply, except by licking my lips and turning my back upon her, she took her stick and began to beat me so cruelly, that I, at last, lost all patience, and launched at her three kicks, the first of which broke her nose and two teeth; the second, her wrist, and the third, striking her in the stomach, knocked her over. Twenty persons rushed upon me, overwhelming me with blows and vile words. They carried my mistress off, I know not where, and left me attached to the post, near which the marketing I had brought was displayed. Here I remained a long time; seeing that no one thought of me, I ate a second basket of excellent vegetables, and cutting with my teeth the cord that held me, I quietly took the road home.

Every one I passed on the way seemed astonished at seeing me alone.

“Look, there is a donkey with a broken strap! He has escaped,” said one.

“It must be a fugitive from the galleys,” said another. And they all began to laugh.

“He doesn’t carry a heavy load on his back,” remarked a third.

“Very true,” exclaimed a youth, “he has been at some mischief.”

“Catch him, husband,” said a woman, “let us put the little one in the saddle.”

“He will carry you as well as the little boy,” replied the husband.

Wishing to give them a good opinion of my gentleness and condescension, I very quietly approached the woman and stopped to let her mount.

“He doesn’t seem at all vicious,” said the man, helping his wife into the saddle.

I smiled with pity at hearing this. Vicious! as if a donkey kindly treated was ever vicious! We become ill-tempered, disobedient, headstrong, only in retaliation for the blows and foul names heaped upon us. When properly treated, we are good-natured—much better in this respect than other animals.

I carried the wife and child home. The latter was a pretty little boy about two years old, who caressed me fondly, thought me charming, and wanted to keep me altogether. But I reflected that this would not be honest; my masters had bought me, I belonged to them. I had already revenged myself upon my mistress by breaking her nose, teeth, and wrist, and giving her a good kick in the stomach. Seeing, then, that the mother would yield to the little boy, whom she spoiled (I soon perceived this whilst they were on my back), I jumped to one side, and before the mother could seize my bridle, was off in a gallop towards home.

Mary, my master’s daughter, saw me first.

“Oh! there is Cadichon. How early he has returned. Here, Edward, come take off his saddle.”

“Wicked creature,” said Edward, in an angry tone, “one has always to be bothered with you. But why has he returned alone? I’ll bet he has run away. Vile beast!” he added, kicking me on the leg, “if I knew you had escaped, I would give you a hundred licks of the stick!”

Once rid of my saddle and bridle, I went off galloping. Scarcely had I entered the pasture when I heard loud cries proceeding from the house. Approaching the hedge, I saw that the farmer’s wife had been brought home, and I recognized the screams as those of the children. I listened most intently, and heard Edward say to his father:

“Father, I am going to tie him to a tree, and take the big wagon, whip and beat him till he falls to the ground!”

“Very well, my son, go, but do not kill him, for we would lose what he cost us. I shall sell him at the next fair.”

I trembled with fright on hearing these words, and on seeing Edward run to the stable for the whip. There was no time for hesitation, and without any scruple now as to defrauding my owner of what he had paid for me, I ran towards the hedge separating me from the fields, and dashed against it with such force, that I broke the branches and made my way through. I ran at full speed through the field, and I continued to gallop a very long time, believing myself pursued. At last, unable to go farther, I stopped; I listened, but heard nothing. I mounted a slight eminence, I saw no one. Then I began to breathe freely, and rejoice at having delivered myself from these wicked farmers.

But I now commenced to wonder what would become of me. If I remained where was, I would be discovered, recognized and taken back to my master’s. What should I do? where should I go?

I looked around, and finding myself solitary and unhappy, I was about to shed tears over my sad fate, when I perceived that I was on the edge of a magnificent woods, it was the forest of St. Evroult.

“What good luck!” I exclaimed, “In this forest I shall find tender herbage, water, fresh moss; I shall remain here a few days, and then go to another forest, farther, much farther from my master’s farm.”

I entered the forest; I ate with delight the tender grass and I drank the water from a beautiful spring. Towards night, I lay down on the moss at the foot of an old pine, and there slept peacefully till morning.