The Magical Valley: Trusting the Wisdom of Elders

Once upon a time, there lived a donkey who lived quite a long, and mundane life in the desert. His life contained nothing but eating, sleeping, and carrying his master on long journeys. One summer morning, nearing the end of this donkey’s life, a wise, yet mysterious ghoul approached the donkey. He said, “Oh donkey, wouldst thee liketh to embark on a quest to findeth a place where thee can liveth the perfect life??”. At first, the donkey was skeptical, “How could that be possible?” he asked. “I am a magical being, with the powers of making any wisheth cometh true. Followeth me, and thee shall seeth wherefore”. After a bit of quarreling, the donkey and ghoul agreed to meet, at midnight, by the local oasis.

At midnight, the ghoul commanded the donkey to follow him. They walked in the desert for hours, until, unbeknownst to the donkey, the next day had come. At this point, the donkey had become exasperated, “At which hour shall this magical place arriveth?” he asked. The ghoul replied, “Ah, it is just over yond dune over there”.

After walking for a few more hours, the donkey is extremely frustrated, and tired. “Thee has't fopped me! There is nay magical place, I shall wend backeth” he said, quite frustrated with the ghoul. “Ah, the magical place is right there, in the valley below us”, the ghoul responds. But the donkey will not take it anymore. “I cannot taketh this any longeth'r. I doth not trusteth thee”. So, as the donkey attempted to run away, the ghoul reappeared right in front of him. “Thou art a blinking idiot. Cometh backeth as the magical place is waiting for thee” said the ghoul. But, the donkey could not take it anymore and he attempted to start sprinting away from the evil ghoul. But, the ghoul then magically stopped the donkey from moving and forced him to follow him. The foolish donkey still attempted to free the bonds of the almighty ghoul.

Eventually, the donkey and the ghoul reached the magical place where the donkey was to live a perfect life. As promised, the magical place was in the valley. Then, the ghoul commanded the donkey to go to sleep, as the perfect life would await him when he woke up.

When the donkey woke up, he saw something that he had never seen before. He was surrounded by everything he could’ve ever wanted. He had vast amounts of food, a large barn, and all of his old donkey friends. It was just like paradise.

So my dear children, the moral of this story, is that when elders ask you to do something, you do it. Usually, they are right, even if their solution is quite different from what we had imagined. They have more experience in life, and therefore, to a certain extent, they know more than us, which means they know what is right, and what is wrong.