The story is about a donkey who goes with his friend the jackal each night to eat cucumbers from a nearby farm. One night after eating too many cucumbers, the donkey feels happy and decides he wants to sing, despite the jackal warning him not to make noise or they will get caught. The donkey ignores the warning and sings loudly, alerting the farmers who come and beat the donkey badly before releasing him with a wooden mortar around his neck. The jackal mocks the donkey for his actions having negative consequences. The story aims to teach children the morals of thinking before acting and that everything has a proper time and place.

1. The Musical Donkey Story
Once upon a time, in a village, there lived a washerman and
his extremely weak donkey. The donkey would carry the
washerman’s heavy bags of laundry to the river bank for
washing and back during the day. The donkey was not happy
with the food that was provided to him by the washerman. So,
at night, when he was left free, he would go to graze in the
nearby fields.
However, he wouldn’t go to graze in the nearby fields. Instead,
he slyly went to the neighbouring farms and devoured the
different vegetables. Before the sun rose, he would return to
the washerman’s house.
On one of his daily rounds on the nearby farms, the donkey
met a jackal, and they became really close friends who would
meet every night.
On one particular night, the jackal came to the donkey and
said, “Friend, I have some good news for you! I have found a
farm where the farmers are growing juicy, ripe cucumbers. I’m
confident I’ll find some food for myself over there. Let’s go
there and fill our bellies!”
Every night they went to the farm where the donkey would eat
the cucumbers while the jackal kept guard in case they got
caught. This way, the donkey put on weight and became
healthy after eating the cucumbers.

2. One night, the donkey ate way too many cucumbers and was
very happy. He decided to sing a song to express his happiness.
He told the jackal, “The moon is beautiful tonight. I am
overwhelmed with happiness and feel like singing a song.
Which song should I sing?”
Hearing this, the jackal got worried! He said, “Friend, do not
act foolish. We are here to steal the cucumbers and not get
caught. We have to be as quiet as possible. Even though you
think you have a beautiful voice, you don’t. So please, let’s just
eat the cucumbers quietly and leave quickly. If we get caught,
the farmers around will beat us black and blue with their
sticks.”
Hearing this, the donkey scolded him, “Since you are a wild
animal, you can never appreciate beautiful music. You are just
jealous of my melodious voice. Here, let me show you how
well I can sing.”
When the jackal understood that the donkey would definitely
start singing, he told him, “Please wait till I exit the farm and
keep an eye on the farmers. Then you can start with your
singing.” The jackal then ran away and hid.
The donkey then looked up to the moon and started singing or
rather braying at the top of his voice. He was mighty pleased
with himself and continued even louder.

3. It was a full-moon night, where things could be seen very
clearly. Hearing the loud braying, the farmers came rushing
out with their sticks to find the source of the loud, disturbing
noise. They were upset to see the donkey on the farm.
The annoyed farmers ran and chased the donkey and beat him
up really bad with their sticks. The donkey fell to the ground
because of his injuries, and the farmers hung a wooden mortar
around his neck. They then released him.
When he saw the donkey fully injured and limping out of the
farm, the jackal ran towards him and laughed at his face. He
sarcastically said, “Wow, friend, that was a brilliant
performance! Even the farmers appreciated your melodious
voice and talent and decided to reward you with this
necklace!”

4. Moral Of The Story
This story has two morals which would help kids and adults
alike. The first one is – “Everything has a time and place”. And
the second moral is – “Think before you act”. Learning is very
crucial and helps in day-to-day life.
It is human nature to act promptly without thinking. Children
can learn from this short story with pictures to pause, think
about the consequences, and act accordingly. Acting promptly
without giving it a thought is known to have ill effects and can
hurt the other person’s feelings. Therefore, it’s important to
be mindful of everything that’s happening around you and
then act. Also, certain acts are appropriate only for particular
situations. One should think about this, too, before taking any
action.