The Elephant, the Donkey, and the Eagle: A Modern Fable

One day a donkey and an elephant were sitting together enjoying the warmth of a strong summer sun when the donkey suddenly said,“Wow, it is really hot today; I should like to be a fish today so as I might cool off and escape this heat”.

His companion the elephant quickly noted,“You can’t be a fish because you are a donkey.”

The donkey, equally quick with his retort defiantly claimed,“Well it’s not just today I feel like being a fish; I have wanted to be a fish for quite a long time. Fish get to swim in the river, they get to jump in the sun, they stay cool all the time, and flies never bother them. I can, and think I will become a fish.”

The elephant repeated himself trying to better explain,“You may like the idea of being a fish, and at times you may feel like a fish, but you are certainly not a fish - and of course being a donkey, you most certainly will never be a fish.”

The donkey hardened his position braying loudly,“If I want to be fish, I can be a fish. There is nothing, nor no one who can stop me; I will be a fish!

An eagle flying above heard the two creatures arguing below and decided to find out what was going on. Grounding himself between the donkey and the elephant, the eagle asked what was so important they needed to so loudly protest each other’s position. Happy to have another ear with which to give their thoughts, the two animals took turns giving their side of the excited discussion. After giving time to both animals, the eagle gave his beliefs,

“Well you are in part both right. Donkey, you can certainly want and wish to be a fish: there is absolutely no harm in that. Why, I too at times, knowing the life they enjoy, have also wanted to be a fish. One time in fact, I wondered what it must be like to be a big beautiful dolphin. Another time I even fancied it might be nice to be a mountain lion. That said, given the gift of time, eventually I came to realize I am, and always will be, an eagle. Elephant, you are equally right in that as much as a donkey might like to be a fish, a donkey will never really be a fish no matter how many fins or floats it might try to construct or employ.” Reminding himself he had other duties to attend, the eagle bid his farewell to the two animals wishing them both well in their endeavor to find happiness in who and whatever they were. He then flew off to his own affairs.

Unhappy and unconvinced by the eagle’s explanation, the donkey went down to the river bank and started building himself a set of fins and floats from wood which had fallen from the trees near the shore. Calling on the elephant to come see what he had constructed, the donkey jumped into the river gleefully exclaiming,“You see, I am a fish, I am a fish, and nothing you can say will keep me from being a fish.”

Almost immediately, the donkey was fighting against the current and being overwhelmed by the water his hastily fashioned contraption was suddenly taking on. As he realized he might soon sink below the river’s surface, he loudly called out for help. The elephant came as quickly as he could to the river’s edge frantically letting the donkey know he didn’t think he could help him as if he got in, he too might never get out.“I wish I could help you my friend, but you are in way too deep…”

The donkey’s distress call also reached the eagle’s ears which had earlier been lent to the suffering pair below. Wishing he too could provide the kind of help now needed by the donkey as it picked up speed going down the river, he sadly noted,“Just because you can try and be something you are not, doesn’t mean you should.”