It’s high time to introspect and realise the worth of our near and dear loved ones

It’s high time to introspect and realise the worth of our near and dear loved ones 

Lee Chai had a good-for-nothing donkey. The donkey was wild, unruly, lazy, and obstinate and would not obey Lee Chai and all efforts to train the donkey failed. Soon the donkey became such a nuisance that Lee Chai and his wife were fed up of the donkey and wanted to get rid of it, so they decided to sell off their useless donkey and purchase a good one.

So Lee Chai took his good-for-nothing donkey to the weekly fair where animals were bought and sold by auction.

“I want to sell this good-for-nothing, lazy, useless, disobedient donkey,” Lee Chai shouted.


A man offered five hundred rupees and Lee Chai was delighted to get this unexpected prize for his useless donkey.

Lee Chai roamed around the fair and suddenly he saw a huge crowd around an auctioneer who was auctioning a handsomely decked-up donkey wearing a crown.

The auctioneer talked about the donkey’s strong muscles, “look how strong and supple this donkey is – it is so hardy that it can wok tirelessly for hours carrying heavy loads. An excellent beast of burden.”

Someone bid one thousand rupees.

“What? Only a thousand rupees for such an intelligent donkey? You can train him to anything you want and he will learn in a minute. This is a most gentle donkey. Just look at his eyes. You know he’s a wonderful donkey. You can let him carry your children home with full knowledge of the fact that this kind animal will protect them from any harm. For he is a strong loyal friend…” the auctioneer said.

Someone bid three thousand rupees.

The auctioneer continued talking about the donkey’s value and and as he laid it thick and praised the donkey’s qualities the bids started going higher and higher.

The auctioneer went on and on extolling the donkey’s virtues which so impressed Lee Chai that he suddenly bid ten thousand rupees, won the bid and bought the donkey.

He triumphantly led his prize donkey home and told his wife that he had sold their good-for-nothing useless donkey for rupees five hundred and bought this wonderful new donkey for ten thousand rupees.

Lee Chai’s wife had a close look, realized that the decked-up donkey Lee Chai had bought was their own lazy good-for-nothing donkey and was furious with Lee Chai and shouted at him, “are you crazy Lee Chai. This is our own useless donkey – you sold it for five hundred rupees and bought it back for ten thousand rupees?”

A stunned, bewildered and baffled Lee Chai looked closely at the donkey for some time, then recovered his wits, and said, “Maybe I did not appreciate the true worth of my donkey until the auctioneer explained it…”