One day, an old farmer's donkey fell into a deep well.

The animal kicked and cried for hours as the farmer tried to figure out how to get him out of the well. After considering several complicated and expensive alternatives, including renting a crane, the farmer decided that the animal was too old and not worth the effort or expense that it would take to extricate him from the well.

He concluded that the well should have been filled many years ago and he invited all of his friends and neighbors to come over and help him fill the hole.

They grabbed shovels and began to shovel dirt, gravel and manure into the well.

At first, when the donkey realized what was happening to him, he kicked and cried and carried on. Then to everyone's amazement, he suddenly became quite, calm and just stood there.

When the farmer peered into 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 and then step up onto the higher ground.

As the farmer and his neighbors continued to shovel dirt, gravel and manure into the well, the donkey continued to shake it off and step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up and over the edge of the well and happily trotted away.

grz-