Tales from Crete | 84

Today's story is not Greek at all, but starts from something completely different. I came across an article about donkeys written by the chairman of De Danske Æselavlere, Knud Erik Rasmussen from Sallinge in Midtfyn.

But of course my story, as always, has a reference to Crete or Greece - anything else would be a little strange to me.

Well, here it comes.

Sometimes I feel like a bit of an ass. I'm probably not the only one and you probably know the feeling of struggling and struggling all day and the next day it's all over again. But it's completely natural for donkeys, I should greet and say. I know that there are many who think it's such a shame when we in Elenas once in a while bring a picture of a donkey that is only just covered by a half-roof that shields the sun, but it's not uncommon for donkeys. They are actually built to handle much more heat and sun than e.g. horses, and the donkey is also built to be a draft and working animal. But there can be many opinions about that.

However, the donkey is smarter than horses. If you take the Chinese character for donkey, it means directly translated: smart horse, says the chairman of the National Association of Danish Donkey Breeding, Knud Erik Rasmussen and the man from Sallinge ved Ringe has been dealing with donkeys for more than 30 years, and he has what he himself refers to as, a larger group walking at home, so he knows what he is talking about. He has e.g. experienced that the donkeys functioned as watchdogs when there were thieves at stake.

"They had been inside nipping at the neighbour's B&O plant, when my wife and I woke up to a couple of the donkeys that should have been in the paddock running around in the garden," says Knud Erik Rasmussen, who is sure that that the donkeys prevented the thieves from entering his house.

It is also not uncommon for donkeys to be considered stubborn, but this is now completely wrong. Donkeys are not stubborn, but rather cautious. If you are out driving with donkeys harnessed to a cart, they will stop if they see something they have not seen before. "It could be, for example, a new sewer cover in the way. Then you have to get off the wagon and walk over the cover yourself three or four times before they want to drive again", says Knud Erik Rasmussen, who can also talk about certain similarities between donkeys and women:

"If a donkey has had a foal, the whole herd gathers in a circle around the newborn five minutes later, and then they all stand together and brag. It's a bit like the neighbor's wives do to a newborn baby," he says.

So, with this little feature from Knud Erik Rasmussen, I'm suddenly not at all dissatisfied with bragging like a donkey and occasionally being called stubborn like a donkey. Then I look both wise, careful, and can work in a heat where others give up.

And the reference to Crete…..yes, it is very simple. It is exactly the same way that Cretans perceive donkeys, and therefore the donkey has a great place in the hearts of all Cretans.