THE MILLER, THE BOY, AND THE ASS

This is one of my favorites found in 1969 or '70, in a book, A Treasury of Russian Children's Verse. I had to change the layout, and I have omitted some of the repetitive lines, but the moral is the same.

An old man, a miller, was riding an ass.
His grandson was walking behind in the grass.

"Look! A disgrace!" was the villagers' talk.
"Granddad is riding, but grandson must walk!"

Quickly the miller dismounted, and put
The boy in the saddle, while he went on foot.

"Goodness, no manners!" an old woman said.
"Age walks behind, while Youth rides ahead!"

So granddad and grandson both mounted and rode.
They came to a man who was hauling a load.

"Ugh!" said the man, "No shame, not the least!
Two men on the back of that poor little beast!

Then granddad and grandson both went on foot.
On grandfather's shoulders the donkey was put.

"Ha, ha, ha! Ho, ho, ho!" roared a man with a sack.
"An old ass has put a young ass on his back!"

Obviously, the moral is that you can't please everybody, but when you try, you end up making an "ass" of yourself. This old folktale is retold in verse by Samuel Marshak.