Aesop's Fables: The Ploughman, the Ass, and the Ox

The Weasel and the Man

Demades and His Fable

The Ploughman, the Ass, and the Ox

A Ploughman yoked his Ox and his Ass together, and set to work to plough his field. It was a poor makeshift of a team, but it was the best he could do, as he had but a single Ox. At the end of the day, when the beasts were loosed from the yoke, the Ass said to the Ox, "Well, we've had a hard day: which of us is to carry the master home?" The Ox looked surprised at the question. "Why," said he, "you, to be sure, as usual."