A man bought melons at the market.
On the way home, a melon rolled out of the sack down into a pasture, startling a rabbit who startled a donkey who took off at a gallop. The man looked and saw the galloping donkey. "I have bought donkey-eggs instead of melons!" he said excitedly.
When he got home, he put the melons under his own donkey. "Incubate them!" he said. "Like the chicken does!"
But the donkey couldn't settle down on the melons.
So, the man cut off his legs to lower the donkey.
The donkey died.
The donkey-eggs never hatched.
Inspired by: "Donkey Eggs" in Tashelhiyt Berber Folktales by Harry Stroomer, 2001.
Notes: You can read the original story online. The original story doesn't have the hare startling a donkey; I added that in. At the end of the original story the man goes back into the barn and see his donkey making a funny face; he thinks that is because the donkey is happy about hatching the eggs, but it is only the grin of death on his donkey's face.
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