Carrying the Load on His Shoulder

One day Nasreddin Hodja bought a sack of wheat at the market. The sack was very heavy. The Hodja was about to load it onto his donkey's back, but then he looked at the donkey and saw that it looked tired. "My poor donkey, you've carried firewood all week. Let me not tire you out today," he said.

The Hodja climbed onto his donkey and put the sack on his own shoulder. And so he set off from the market towards the village. The villagers he met on the road began to laugh: "Hodja, what's this? You're riding the donkey, and the sack is on your shoulder!"

The Hodja answered with a serious face: "My donkey is very tired. I felt sorry for it. I thought, let me carry the sack instead of the donkey."

The villagers roared with laughter: "But Hodja, you're on the donkey! You're carrying the sack, but you're on the donkey's back. The donkey is carrying both you and the sack!"

The Hodja stopped for a moment, looked at his donkey and looked at the sack on his shoulder. It was true. He laughed at himself: "You're right. I thought I was doing a kindness, but the load was still on the donkey's back."

The Hodja got off the donkey. He loaded the sack onto the donkey's back and walked beside it all the way to the village. On the way he stroked the donkey's head: "I'm sorry, my donkey. If I really want to be kind to you, I must first put myself in your place."

This story tells us: good intentions are lovely, but they are not enough. If we really want to help someone, we must think carefully about what they need. Sometimes what we think is a kindness doesn't lighten the load at all.