Aliens, Critters, and Dinosaurs

The Hyacinth and the Crocus

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The Hyacinth and the Crocus

A donkey plodding along in the dust of the old mill road, stopped to smell the lovely fragrance of a purple hyacinth blooming in the weeds.

“Honk! Honk!” said a goose, flapping his wings up and down. “Why do you stop? It’s the middle of the road! Can’t you see this is no place to stop?”

The donkey looked up with a smile. His face was a muzzle of delight.

“Honk! Honk!” said the goose. “Get out of my way. Can’t you see you’re stopping in the middle of the road?”

“Hee haw!” said the donkey, and as happy as he was, he just couldn’t help sharing the treat he'd discovered. “Look,” said he. “Do you see what I see? A lovely purple hyacinth is blooming.”

“Honk!” said the goose. “I have no time to look. What matters a flower to me? I have fresh bugs to catch, seeds to unbury, and no time for foolish sights.”

“But the fragrance, my friend. It offers you sweetness. The fragrance is almost like food is for your tummy.”

“Honk!” said the goose. “What rubbish is that. Only if I were to eat it. Get out of my way, you carpeted building. I am too busy to wait anymore.”

The donkey moved aside and let the goose pass.

The goose waddled quickly by.

The donkey leisurely scratched his stomach with a hind hoof. He gathered a bite of green grass, clover and thyme. He nibbled on wild oats, some barley, and parsley, and he breathed in the scent of the hyacinth.

The sun was warm, and he was content, when along came a tiny green frog. “Croak, croak, croak,” said the frog.

The donkey stopped munching on grasses to listen to the little one.

“Croak, croak, croak,” said the frog once more.

"I do not understand, my friend, what you wish to say. But, if you are saying, 'Good morning,' then I wish to bid you a 'Good morning, too.' "

Croak, croak, crocus,” said the little frog even louder.”

The donkey stopped his munching one more time and looked hard at the place where the little frog was sitting.

“Oh, I understand,” he said. “You want me to see the beautiful yellow crocus you found. How lovely, it is. Thank you.”

The little frog and the donkey spent a long time gazing at the wonder of the saffron-yellow crocus. They sighed in happiness, and then the donkey shared the lovely hyacinth with the frog, and they sighed some more.

Together they continued to enjoy the sunshine and the beauty of the day.

Later that afternoon the goose came strutting down the path. “Honk!” cried the goose, stopping in amazement to see the donkey still gazing at the hyacinth. “You are still there? What a lazy animal you are, spending your day doing nothing but staring at flowers.”

The donkey tried to show the goose the crocus the frog had found. The donkey again attempted to point out the beautiful purple hyacinth, but the goose would not listen. The goose strode off, with his neck in the air, and his little tail rocking back and forth in the impatient gait of all geese.

“He thinks I am lazy,” said the donkey, much saddened by the conversation.

“Croak, croak, croak," said the little frog. “What does he know? He hurries here and there and never takes the time to see the beauty anywhere. Why he probably doesn’t even know what a hyacinth or a crocus is.”

“I suppose that’s true,” said the donkey with a tear in his eye.

“Yes, and he had the chance to learn and see, but he refused it."

The donkey nodded his head, but his neck had fallen very low to the ground, and the little frog could see that he was still feeling sad.

“Croak, croak,” said the little frog. “Do you not see that the goose has taken away your pleasure in the day? Do not let him.”

“I can’t help it. Perhaps he is right. Maybe I am lazy.”

The frog shook his head.

He leaped right up onto the donkey’s nose and stared into his eyes.

“Mr. Donkey, don't you remember? You had a lovely day, full of sunshine and smiles. You dined on delicious grasses and breathed in the delicate fragrance. You saw great beauty. And you made a new friend. What could be better than all that?”

The donkey opened his eyes and stared at his little friend, which wasn’t easy because a donkey's eyes aren’t meant for looking at things perched on their noses.

“You are right, little frog. It was a good day.” The donkey smiled and then sneezed.

Little frog jumped into the grass, laughing. “Good! Now answer me this, just as quick as you can: One of you was a silly goose. Which one do you think it was?


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