The Donkey That Fell Into A Well

One day a farmer's donkey fell into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do.

Finally, the farmer decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

The farmer invited all his neighbors to come over and help him cover the well. They all grabbed shovels and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quietened down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off, stamp the new dirt into the ground with his feet (thus increasing the ground level) and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up.

Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well (since the ground level had reached the top of the well with all the new dirt) and happily trotted off!

Moral of the story:

Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well of our problems is to shake off our troubles and take a step up. Each of our troubles is actually a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest well just by not stopping, never giving up – but learning from our problems to help us take a step up.

Modern times twist to the tale:

After recovering from the injuries he had sustained from falling into the well, the donkey later came back, and bit the farmer who had tried to bury him.

The gash from the bite got infected and the farmer eventually died in agony from septic shock.

Moral of the twist in the end:

Coming out victorious from problems is all the more sweeter if you can hit back at those who created the problems in the first place!