When Marvin the Donkey went to Jail
Hi, it’s me, Marvin the Donkey. Did I ever tell you about the time I was thrown in jail? It’s the craziest story. I was helping my owner, Clark; carry a huge load of wood to the village to sell. Clark lives with his elderly mother and takes very good care of her. She is a sweet old lady and very good to me, so I am glad to help out any way that I can.
As we were traveling along this old narrow path up the mountains, we passed this man, Peter I believe his name was. He was sitting on the ground next to a big rock. As we passed him, he started yelling at my master. He started accusing him of knocking over his jar of oil and spilling it all over the ground. Apparently he had sat it on the rock as he rested. My load I was carrying was too big and must have bumped into it as we passed. Clark yelled back that it wasn’t his fault and said I knocked it over. I knew it was true. I knocked it over, but it was an accident. Peter cried that he couldn’t afford to lose the oil because it was all he had to sell to feed himself and his mother. Clark couldn’t afford to replace what I had knocked over. I felt terrible.
They decided to take the matter to the king. The king listened to both sides. He took his time and appeared to think about the matter thoroughly. He finally came to a decision. He decided that the fault lied either with me, or the rock that the jar was sitting on. He could not see that either Clark or Peter was at fault for the broken jar of oil, so he was putting me and the rock on trial. Next thing I know he ordered me to be chained up and thrown in jail. He ordered that the rock be retrieved and brought to the prison as well.
I have never been so humiliated in all my life. Chained and thrown in jail over some spilled oil. I never meant for any of this to happen, but it was true, I caused it. I don’t know how it could possibly have been the rocks fault too. But then again, if the rock wasn’t holding the jar, I wouldn’t have knocked it over. I cried myself to sleep. I didn’t like being trapped in a cell, especially over something I never meant to do.
The next morning, the guards that put me in the cell came back. They led me to a courtyard where the rock was placed and chained to a pole. They chained me to a pole next to it. My owner, Clark, was there and so was Peter. The king sat in a chair in front of a great crowd. It appeared as though the entire town was there to see me and the rock go to trial.
Then, as the trial was to begin, the king ordered that the gates to the courtyard be locked. He locked everyone in. That is when the strangest thing happened. The king did not order judgement on me, or the rock. He announced that there was no law by which a donkey and a rock could be judged. He said that everyone there to watch such a trial, were fools to think that there was. For their foolishness and curiosity, they were all ordered to pay before they could leave. Everyone that came to see my trial was shocked and embarrassed and reluctantly paid what they were ordered and left. The king then gave the money that the townspeople had paid to Peter to replace the money he lost by the broken jar of oil. By this, both Clark and Peter left happy. I was relieved as well.
I was allowed to return home with my owner and I no longer felt as guilty for accidentally spilling the oil, for Peter did not lose any money from it after all. He even patted me on the head as he was leaving. From that point on, I was extra careful when carrying large loads for my owner. As for the rock, it remains in the town square, chained to a pole. I imagine it was left there to serve as a reminder to the townspeople to not give in to their foolish curiosity. So there you have it, the story of when Marvin the Donkey went to jail. I told you it was a crazy story.
Author's Note: I took this story from The Story of the Donkey and the Rock. In this story I really didn't change any of the story, I just told it form the donkey's point of view. I told it as that the donkey could understand all that was going on and he felt guilty for accidentally knocking over the oil. I wanted to express how he felt about being thrown in jail and put on trial.
Bibliography: The Story of the Donkey and the Rock. Story source: Tibetan Folk Tales by A.L. Shelton
