“A cowardly old man had led his donkey to pasture. At the unexpected sound of the enemy approaching, the old man was stricken with terror and tried to persuade the donkey to run away so that he wouldn’t be captured. The donkey obstinately asked the old man, ‘Tell me, do you suppose the victor will make me carry two saddles instead of one?’ The old man said he did not think so. ‘I rest my case,’ concluded the donkey. ‘What difference does it make who my master is, if I always carry one saddle at a time?’
From Aesop’s Fables, “Fable 11: The Old Man, the Donkey, and the Pack Saddles”, trans. Laura Gibbs (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008), 9.
Of course, some saddles chafe more than others…
Dan Taylor 