Try to please everybody, and you will please nobody

A merchant along with his son was going to the market on a donkey to sell his wares. On their way, a man passed by them and said, “How can they be so cruel to make the donkey carry both of them.” The merchant heard this and immediately alighted from the donkey, letting his son ride on it. Soon, he came across a group of men, who commented, “See how lazy is that boy, he is letting his father walk while he is riding.” The merchant immediately asked the boy to get off the donkey, and he got on.

They would have walked no further when he saw two women saying to each other that the merchant should feel ashamed to let the boy walked in the hot sun. The merchant got confused and asked the boy to get on the donkey while they went on town.

Later, passers-by scolded them saying they were abusing the donkey by riding on it. Frustrated, both the boy and merchant got off the donkey, cut down a pole, tied the donkey’s feet to the pole, and carried it on their shoulders. Seeing this, people started laughing.

While crossing a bridge, the donkey got one of his feet loose, kicked out, forcing the boy to drop his end of the pole. In the commotion, the donkey feels over the bridge and drowned, and they tied together with its forefeet. A wise man, who was watching all this said, “Try to please everybody, and you will please nobody.”

This life lesson teaches us that even if we encounter criticism that is unfair and spiteful, we should ignore it and do things the way we deem to be correct.